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Autocar Professional - Latest ArticlesenAutocar ProfessionalAll you need to know about BS VI <div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/850e789d-4ba0-4159-b0d1-9b759a702a7c.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Seven months from now, India will fully adopt the stricter BS 6 emission norms &ndash; a transition that can be termed as the biggest technological leap the country&rsquo;s auto industry has taken towards clean air. The shift, by skipping BS 5, has not only happened in record time &ndash; around three-and-a-half years &ndash; but also under great pressure, as both the oil companies and the auto industry, both vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers,&nbsp;worked relentlessly to prepare in time for the challenging deadline of April 2020.</strong></p>
<p>However, not all automakers have managed to make this transition fast enough, resulting in many models and powertrains being phased out. It has also entailed a significant cost, one that will inevitably be passed on to the consumer. Naturally, the talk surrounding the shift to BS 6&nbsp;has raised many questions and left many vehicle&nbsp;buyers flummoxed. But we&rsquo;ll break it down and tell you what you need to know.<img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/2_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">What are the major types of pollutants?</span></strong><br>
Internal combustion engines (ICEs) are primarily notorious for the production of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Particulate matter (PM), or carbon soot, is another by-product of diesel as well as direct-injection petrol engines.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">How will cars be made BS 6-compliant?</span></strong><br>
Automakers generally adopt a two-pronged approach which involves working on the engine and the after-treatment. In terms of the in-cylinder measures, enhanced combustion chamber and fuel injector design will refine the combustion process and result in finer atomisation of fuel. And, on the other hand, the release of pollutants like PM and NOx is arrested using exhaust treatment systems.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/3_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 416px;" title=""></p>
<p>Direct-injection petrol and diesel engines rely on particulate filters to reduce the emission of PM or soot into the atmosphere. A higher level of NOx &ndash; a challenge especially with diesel engines &ndash; is tackled either by employing a Lean NOx Trap (LNT) or a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system.</p>
<p>As the name suggests, LNT works by filtering out NOx content from the exhaust gases. SCR, on the other hand, injects a water-based urea solution (AdBlue) into the exhaust flow to reduce the nitrogen-oxide emissions into inert nitrogen and water. Though more effective than LNT, SCR&rsquo;s complex and expensive setup limits its applications. Jeep and Mercedes-Benz are two automakers that have introduced SCR-based diesel vehicles in the Indian market.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">What is the difference between BS 4 and BS 6 emission limits?</span></strong><br>
Under the upcoming emission regime, NOx levels will go down by 25 percent for petrols and a drastic 68 percent for diesel engines. The latter will also be met with the requirement of a severe 82 percent reduction in PM levels. And for the first time, petrol engines (with direct injection) will attract regulation for their particulate-matter production.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/4_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 429px;" title=""></p>
<p>An interesting point to note is that while there was a sharp contrast between the pollution levels of petrol and diesel engines under BS 4, this difference is set to get diminished significantly with the implementation of BS 6.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">What will be the impact on performance and fuel efficiency?</span></strong><br>
Moving to more stringent emission norms posts challenges for automakers in more ways than one. Lowering exhaust emissions generally results in a penalty on performance and fuel efficiency. So not only do car manufacturers have to minimise pollution, they also have to proactively work towards retaining the vehicles&rsquo; driveability.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/5_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p>Cleaner engines generally employ a slower combustion process. Additionally, exhaust after treatment systems increase back pressure on the engine and some of these systems, like particulate filters and NOx traps, have to periodically undergo regeneration (a process which involves the exhaust material build-up in the filter being combusted by using fuel).</p>
<p>It is also understood that the process to reduce sulphur content in diesel can negatively impact the energy content of the fuel. These factors collectively tend to take a toll on the vehicle&rsquo;s performance and efficiency. Automakers are adopting varied approaches to tackle these challenges. Tata Motors, for instance, has worked on the power and torque characteristics of its engine line-up to refine driveability. Mahindra &amp; Mahindra, on the other hand, has carried out a holistic makeover of its powertrains for the sake of improving performance. It also claims to have achieved a reduction in engine friction by as much as 30 percent, in turn&nbsp;enhancing fuel efficiency.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">What will be the impact on the cost?</span></strong><br>
Industry experts believe the high cost of upgrading diesel vehicles to meet BS 6 norms will certainly make them more expensive but will not push them beyond the reach of customers. Petrol-car prices are expected to go up in the range of Rs10,000-20,000, while diesel cars could get dearer by Rs 80,000-100,000.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/6_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">What is the difference between BS 4 and BS 6-grade fuels?</span></strong><br>
The switch to cleaner emission norms will primarily require fuels with significantly lower sulphur content. BS 6-grade petrol and diesel are limited to just 10 mg/kg of sulphur, compared to the 50 mg/kg content in BS 4 fuels.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/7_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p>With regard to benefits, the lower the sulphur content in the fuel, the cleaner it burns. Petrol with lower sulphur emits less NOx, CO and HC, while the advantage of low sulphur diesel is significantly lower PM emissions. For the time being, availability of BS 6-grade fuels is limited to Delhi-NCR and Agra. But experts in the petroleum industry have assured availability in other cities beginning 2020, with a nationwide rollout aimed by March end.<br>
<br>
<strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Can BS 6 cars run on BS 4 fuel?</span></strong><br>
Considering that the upcoming emission norms bear greater ramifications for diesels, these engines generally employ exhaust after treatment techniques like diesel particulate filters (DPF) in conjunction with either LNT or SCR systems. Higher sulphur content in BS4 grade fuel has the potential to poison catalysts in these systems and have an adverse impact on their operation.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/8_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p>Thus, running a BS 6 diesel engine on the appropriate fuel is all the more critical. However, there are exceptions. Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz claims to be employing superior catalysts in its emission control devices that permits its BS 6 diesel vehicles to run on a diet of BS 4 fuel.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For petrol engines, on the other hand, it&rsquo;s a different case. Generally only utilising better engine component designs for achieving lower emissions, industry experts suggest that sulphur poisoning is not a major concern and as such, BS 6 petrol vehicles can be operated safely even with BS 4 fuel.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It is worth mentioning at this stage that while using the correct fuel is crucial, so is using the right type of lubricants. To that effect, it is recommended that only low SAPS (Sulphated Ash, Phosphorous and Sulphur) engine oils be used for all types of BS6 vehicles.&nbsp;<br>
<br>
<strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Can BS 4 cars run on BS 6 fuel?</span></strong><br>
Operating BS 4 vehicles on the cleaner fuel shouldn&rsquo;t pose any serious challenges as the only major difference between BS 4 and BS 6-grade fuels is the significant reduction in sulphur content, as mentioned earlier. Moreover, using BS 6 fuel can be expected to yield a slight reduction in emission levels even on the older engines.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/9.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">What is the framework for emission regulations after 2020?</span></strong><br>
Ever since the nationwide introduction of BS 1 in 2000, Indian automotive agencies have been using the MIDC (Modified Indian Driving Cycle) for the evaluation of emissions from passenger vehicles. This involves testing cars on a dynamometer at average speeds of 19kph and 59.3kph, simulating urban and highway driving respectively.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/10.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p>Incidentally, the MIDC is modelled after the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle), albeit with lower maximum speeds. And while the EU itself has already phased out NEDC, India will continue with the MIDC even with introduction of BS6.</p>
<p>However, 2023 will see the introduction of the RDE (Real Driving Emissions) in the country. RDE tests will take place on open roads, which will give a clearer view about the vehicles&rsquo; performance in the real world.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Are BS 6 emission norms the same as Euro 6?</span></strong><br>
While the emission targets under both protocols are the same, exclusive adaptations are required for Indian driving cycles because the average speed is much lower. Moreover, India has different fuels and oils and the performance, and reliability and robustness requirements are also different. In short, a Euro 6-compliant car need not be BS 6-compliant without some technical intervention.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/11_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">In conclusion</span></strong><br>
While the Indian auto industry has done its bit to ensure readiness with the BS 6 norms, the onus is now on the government to fast-track the vehicle scrappage policy, which will get vehicles that do not comply with current emission and safety standards off the roads. This is the only way to ensure the gains from the latest emissions-norm compliant vehicles aren&rsquo;t neutralised by crude older vehicles.</p>
<![CDATA[As India Auto Inc leapfrogs from BS IV to stricter BS VI emission norms, we demystify some of the key questions surrounding the biggest technological upgrade towards clean air.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/850e789d-4ba0-4159-b0d1-9b759a702a7c.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/850e789d-4ba0-4159-b0d1-9b759a702a7c.jpg&h=485&w=73543982https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/all-you-need-to-know-about-bs-vi-43982
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/all-you-need-to-know-about-bs-vi-43982Mon, 02 Sep 2019 14:05:00Ashok Leyland scouts for strategic ties in EV era<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fc51c712-461c-455e-aa77-95c4397d5c00.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>It&#39;s been about four months since Dr Seshu Bhagavathula took on a new role of president - New Technologies and Business Initiatives at Ashok Leyland, moving from a stint as its CTO. As the Chennai-based CV manufacturer progresses in its journey, part of which is also a target to enter the top 10 CV makers club globally, it is looking at doing things differently than done earlier. A key change is the new product development approach under the &#39;Modular Business Program&#39; project kicked off in 2016. The results will be seen now in products.</strong></p>
<p>&quot;With modularisation, our addressable market has gone up. Things that we have not been able to offer before, we can offer from now on,&quot; Dr Bhagavathula tells <em>Autocar Professional</em>, during the first media interview in his new role. The modular approach is being taken for both the medium and heavy and LCV businesses. The rollout of the products will be from April 2020.</p>
<p><img alt="Dr Seshu Bhagavathula, CTO Ashok Leyland" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Dr%20Seshu%20Bhagavathula%2C%20CTO%20Ashok%20Leyland.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Dr Seshu Bhagavathula, CTO Ashok Leyland"></p>
<p><em>Dr Seshu Bhagavathula, CTO Ashok Leyland</em></p>
<p>The modular platform approach is one of the many in-house efforts that Ashok Leyland to enhance value, efficiency and competitiveness in a market that has been largely traditional. But with the automobile industry itself set to transform with various disruptions and the onset of electric mobility, especially in the bus and LCV segments, the company will have to think and act differently.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Collaboration for big move in electric mobility</span></strong><br>
Electric mobility is one area for which Ashok Leyland has a &quot;big strategy&quot;. It has already embarked on it with buses that use swappable batteries, which Dr Bhagavathula says is the first in the world. The battery cost in an electric bus can be as high as 75 percent of the vehicle&#39;s cost. Since battery swapping removes a major part of an EV&#39;s cost, it can boost adoption of EVs, believes Sun Mobility, Ashok Leyland&#39;s battery swapping technology and service partner.</p>
<p>Ashok Leyland&#39;s electric buses are already plying in Ahmedabad, where after every 40km they drive into the depot for a three-minute battery swap. The efficiency of its electric buses could go up when the buses, specially designed for e-mobility, hit the market in 2-3 years.</p>
<p>&quot;EVs will become lightweight over time, which will start reducing the cost quite a bit. Today, our buses are not ideally suited for electrification, because we are transitioning from a heavy mechanical to electric transportation,&quot; says Dr Bhagavathula. The weight saving can be upwards of 15 percent. The engineering team is also working on other factors like NVH in the buses designed for electrification.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Ashok Leyland electric bus" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Image-5.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Ashok Leyland electric bus"></p>
<p><em>An order for 50 Circuit buses from Ahmedabad under&nbsp;FAME II has given a charge to Ashok Leyland&#39;s EV drive.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Sun Mobility is the first major partner for Ashok Leyland in the emerging era of e-mobility. While drawing up new business initiatives for the company, &quot;intelligent partnerships&quot; will be given more weightage. With a vision of being a volume player in the e-mobility industry, Ashok Leyland sees that as a necessity. &quot;In the modem e-mobility value chain, you cannot do everything on your own. You require intelligent partnerships to master the overall value chain. You can&#39;t go and start buying companies. So intelligent partnerships are all about new business initiatives,&quot; says Dr Bhagavathula. Expect Ashok Leyland to strike some strategic partnerships.</p>
<p>E-mobility is a niche industry as of date, but with battery prices coming down gradually, the technocrat sees that EVs will become a viable and sound option over diesel CVs not too long from now. &quot;(When) the battery prices come down to $200 a kilowatt hour, then you have a TCO (total cost of ownership) parity with a diesel engine cost whenever that happens, which we believe will happen before 2025,&quot; says Dr Bhagavathula. He thinks then on could be the beginning of the end for diesels. Not for medium and heavy diesel vehicles though. &quot;Maybe, there&#39;s a fuel cell solution for that. We are closely watching that. We&#39;re also working on prototypes. We&#39;re actually trying to now be battery- agnostic, cell-agnostic and chemistry-agnostic,&quot; he says.</p>
<p>But for now, the immediate goal is April 1, 2020 when BS VI kicks in. Along with diesel, Ashok Leyland has also developed CNG and petrol engines meeting BS VI norms.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first featured in the August 15, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[The 70-year-old commercial vehicle major, which harbours fresh global dreams, plots new ways of doing business especially to ride the electric mobility trend successfully]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Commercial Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fc51c712-461c-455e-aa77-95c4397d5c00.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fc51c712-461c-455e-aa77-95c4397d5c00.jpg&h=485&w=73543964https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/ashok-leyland-scouts-for-strategic-ties-in-ev-era-43964
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/ashok-leyland-scouts-for-strategic-ties-in-ev-era-43964Sun, 01 Sep 2019 08:35:00Fuelling an idea<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5d8f874f-fa60-4a02-a05d-f967951f76e5.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><em>In addition to supplying the bowsers to OMCs &mdash; Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum &mdash; Repos Energy is also partnering other fuel station owners to introduce on-demand fuel delivery in their operations.</em></p>
<p><strong>Every once in a while, a new technology, an old problem, and a big idea turn into innovation,&quot; said Dean Kamen, the American engineer, businessman and inventor of the Segway. A quote that not only describes his passion and belief but, perhaps, the reality of many a successful entrepreneur.</strong></p>
<p>In today&#39;s fast-paced world, investing heavily only in digitalisation does not change ground reality or solve the problem. A unique, relevant solution can also change the dynamics of the game, without necessarily increasing costs.</p>
<p>For Chetan and Aditi Walunj, the young Pune-based entrepreneurs and founders of Repos Energy, the thought of running a successful start-up backed by no less than Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, was an unimagined dream come true. After four years of immense hard work, brainstorming and developing a robust IoT system, their project has started getting recognition, having begun operations only recently.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Birth of a start-up</span></strong><br>
Chetan&#39;s journey in the world of automotive fuels began in 2011, when he joined the family business of a fuel station in MIDC, Pune. For over five years, he interacted closely with both retail as well as commercial customers who tanked up at the station. Understanding the challenges, operational difficulties as well as being asked often if there was a way fuel could be made available in bulk for industrial/commercial purposes at site is what gave birth to the germ of an entrepreneurial idea &mdash; Repos Energy.</p>
<p><img alt="Ratan Tata for Repos Energy" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Aditi%20_%20Chetan%20with%20Ratan%20Tata.jpeg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 551px;" title="Ratan Tata for Repos Energy"></p>
<p><em>Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, with the founders of Repos Energy &mdash; Aditi and Chetan Walunj</em></p>
<p>In 2015, along with Aditi Bhosale, a forensics and international relations student (who he wed in 2016), the idea took shape. Aditi shares a similar passion for solving societal issues and for making fuel available in remote parts of India. With this vision in place, along with a strategy to develop realated infrastructure to achieve speedy progress, the couple began exploring the idea of mobile fuel dispensers.</p>
<p>Speaking to <em>Autocar Professional</em>, Aditi Walunj says, &quot;Initially, since there were no vehicles available that would have a dispenser like the ones you see at any fuel station, it was difficult to provide the exact amount of fuel required at a retail level.&quot;</p>
<p>Thus was born Repos, which stands for &#39;relentlessly positive&#39;. While the partners had no clear idea how to take things forward, they began a pilot project by delivering diesel in small quantities to hotels and companies. However, since the governmental policy then did not allow mobile sale of diesel, the company stopped the process, which meant customers continued to travel all the way to the fuel station to tank up.</p>
<p>In March 2017, the Walunjs reached out to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, asking for support to introduce policies allowing mobile tankers (bowsers) to legally deliver fuel to commercial customers. According to Aditi, &quot;Around 85 percent of diesel sales in the country come from bulk customers (sale of 50 litres and above). Having a mobile dispenser available for this type of customer can not only reduce costs but also speed up the pace of the project.&quot;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Getting dealers on board</span></strong><br>
In 2017, a Bangalore-based start-up, &#39;Mypetrolpump&#39;, began an on-demand fuel delivery business, which garnered a lot of interest but had to stop operations due to the lack of a sustainable business policy. &quot;For us, this was key learning and hence we reached out to the petroleum minister to solve this issue,&quot; says Aditi.</p>
<p><img alt="Repos aims to deliver 32,000 bowsers by 2024." src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_8664.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 490px;" title="Repos aims to deliver 32,000 bowsers by 2024."></p>
<p><em>Repos aims to deliver 32,000 bowsers by 2024.</em></p>
<p>It was not long before Repos Energy started approaching petroleum dealers for their response to their diesel-on-site delivery business as well as their willingness to be part of an on-demand fuel delivery system.</p>
<p>&quot;At the time, while there were no vehicles available that could replicate traditional fuel dispensers, the ones that were available (used at airports to refuel aircraft) took 90 days to manufacture by the local OEM. Also, the cost was quite high to be adopted on a mass scale by fuel retailers. There are around 66,000 fuel stations in India; if each ordered a fuel dispenser, imagine how long it would have taken,&quot; remarks Aditi.</p>
<p>Also, since each vehicle needs to comply with the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) standard to ensure the fuel is kept in optimum safe condition, it meant a fuel dispensing vehicle had to be designed. It helped that Repos&#39; founders had help at hand, in-house. Chetan&#39;s father, who has considerable experience in fabrication, offered to design the fuel dispensing vehicle. He also became the first investor for the company, when he gave a piece of land to set up the small manufacturing unit spread across 2,000 square feet in Pune.</p>
<p>Interestingly, Repos has also begun working on the ecosystem required and IoT (Internet of Things). At present, the company develops and manufactures the tank, automation, sensors and controllers to ensure quality, quantity and real-time data availability. The company says it has applied for patents for its indigenously developed quantity sensors.</p>
<p><img alt="The Repos Energy team " src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG20190803140447.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 551px;" title="The Repos Energy team "></p>
<p><em>The Repos Energy team with the mobile fuel dispensers ordered by the Indian armed forces.</em></p>
<p>In March 2018, the government of India invited stakeholders for a pilot project for doorstep delivery of fuels. The participants of the project included OMCs, PESO, start-ups and the government. Repos was among the start-ups invited to participate. &quot;While other start-ups were talking about concepts, we had actually developed the ecosystem that includes the software and the hardware part. As a result, of the 51 projects spread across 32 cities, we have delivered vehicles for 49 projects,&quot; says Aditi.</p>
<p>&quot;It is important when you deliver the fuel (diesel) to the customer, he should be able to check that the quality (density) is not poor. Since we had a fair idea of what we wanted to do, we reached out to Mr Ratan Tata to help us take this idea forward,&quot; reveals Aditi.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">From investor to mentor</span></strong><br>
According to Aditi, when she and Chetan were in the process of setting up Repos, they had initially approached Tata Motors but never imagined that Ratan Tata, one of India&#39;s best-known industrialists, investor, philanthropist, and a former chairman of Tata Sons, would invest in their company and also turn mentor.</p>
<p>Aditi recalls October 1, 2018 as a day they will never forget. &quot;That day, we were waiting outside Mr Tata&#39;s house for several hours. However, since we did not have an appointment, we couldn&#39;t get to meet him and so left a letter for him.&quot;</p>
<p>As it happened, Mr Tata spoke to the Walunjs and asked them to meet him the very next day. Among the things the avid automobilist asked was, &quot;How are you planning to change India for good?,&quot; reminisces Aditi. That moment sealed the deal for Repos Energy, the discussions having convinced Mr Tata, following which he asked the management at Tata Motors to support the entrepreneurs in their business activity.</p>
<p>&quot;After that, the management of Tata Motors visited our small 2,000 square-feet facility in Pune. The Tata Motors team assured us that they will help us build the chassis and take care of the safety aspect,&quot; says Aditi.</p>
<p>Fast forward to present day. The company, now with the support of partners and customers, has seen high demand, which led to it expanding the manufacturing facility to 185,000 square feet. Due to the initial demand the company saw for its mobile-fuel pumps, Repos is now working with Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra Trucks &amp; Buses.</p>
<p>The cost of the fuel dispenser, including the truck on which it is installed, ranges between Rs 13 lakh to Rs 21 lakh, depending on the fuel capacity and model. &quot;We wanted to keep the cost as low as possible, and hence we are providing the IoT and smart app services free of cost. The customer only pays for the vehicle and the special body built on the truck.&quot;</p>
<p>Aditi says Repos is set to deliver 75 Repos mobile&nbsp; fuel stations in the next 45 days, which includes delivering 30 units this month. In fact, apart from orders from fuel station owners, the company is also making special fuel dispensing vehicles for the Indian Army. What&#39;s interesting to note is that the company, which was started by the couple, now has an employee strength of 175 staffers.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">CoCo and DoCo models</span></strong><br>
In terms of business models Repos has introduced two main concepts &mdash; Company Owned, Company Operated (CoCo) and Dealer Owned, Company Operated (DoCo).</p>
<p>&quot;In the CoCo model, the dealer takes 60 percent of the margins, while we get the remaining 40 percent of the margin, depending on various factors and based on an algorithm. In the CoCo model, we undertake the complete operation and the dealer partner helps us with the infrastructure and makes the fuel available; here we pay them around 20 percent of the margin. In the third model, the dealer purchases the bowser from us and we help them for the maintenance of the vehicle. Everything else is taken care of by the partner,&quot; shares Aditi.</p>
<p>The company claims it has been able to increase sales of diesel by around 150,000 kilolitres per month for each fuel station partner. In terms of profitability, the company has two group companies, Repos Industries, which handles the manufacturing of the bowser that has reported revenues of Rs 5-6 crore in a short span of three months and is expected to breakeven by FY2020-21. The second is Repos Energy, which is engaged in the business of partnering and bringing doorstep-delivery of fuel to customers. It aims to be sustainable and reach out to more partners and cities, that will contribute towards speedier development of infrastructure and cutting down of energy consumption costs.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Future growth outlook</span></strong><br>
The company says it will build 720 Repos diesel pumps (bowsers) this financial year and the target is to scale it up to 32,000 units in the next five years.</p>
<p>Responding to a query whether the company is looking to replicate its success of doorstep delivery of diesel for petrol and, in the future, diversifying into business for EVs, Aditi says:&quot;Petrol is not viable because of its high flammability. Also, our primary aim is to serve commercial customers,<br>
who account for 85 percent of the diesel consumers in the country. In terms of electric vehicles, we are already looking into its prospects for our company. We are a total energy solutions company, not just bringing doorstep delivery of diesel,&quot; asserts a confident Aditi.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first featured in the August 15, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[Pune-based entrepreneurs Chetan and Aditi Walunj's idea to manufacture diesel-dispensing bowsers for doorstep delivery to commercial buyers of the fuel has clicked in a big way. It also saw Ratan Tata invest in the potential of the company.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5d8f874f-fa60-4a02-a05d-f967951f76e5.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5d8f874f-fa60-4a02-a05d-f967951f76e5.jpg&h=485&w=73543965https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/fuelling-an-idea-43965
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/fuelling-an-idea-43965Sun, 01 Sep 2019 08:35:00Hyundai makes a pitch for more with the Grand i10 Nios<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/1ac67213-ff73-4006-84d9-0ef6ec824edf.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>What is the best strategy to gain volumes in the auto industry? Design and develop a good product for a segment that&#39;s on the rise. Or launch in a segment that&#39;s falling the least if the market is down badly (as it is now), right? Hyundai seems to be thinking differently. In a market where the SUV, or anything SUV-ish,&nbsp; continue to be preferred more comes the Grand i10 Nios. It&#39;s a pure hatchback and there&#39;s nothing SUV about it. The Indian compact car segment currently contributes 48 percent of the overall passenger vehicle (PV) market. The Grand i10 Nios sits in a sub-segment that contributes 24 percent, or about 22,000 units monthly, to the overall compact car segment.</strong></p>
<p>It was in 2007 that the brand i10 started its journey. The second generation of the model, named Grand i10, arrived in 2014. With the Nios (Irish for &#39;more&#39;), and more is the pitch Hyundai is making for the Nios to tap the significant number of customers who would buy a premium compact car. A good number of the first time car buyers too. Like the way the i10 continued to live alongside the Grand i10, the Grand i10 will continue to attract the &#39;value seeker and price-conscious buyer&#39;. The i10 bowed out some time ago.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Bets on more </span></strong><br>
So, what can the buyer expect in the Nios? In line with its name, it&#39;s longer (+40 mm), wider (+20 mm) and gets a longer wheelbase (+25 mm) than the Grand i10. Pitched squarely against the Maruti Suzuki Swift, the Nios matches its well established competitor in terms of the wheelbase, but falls short in the other parameters with the figures mentioned above. However, Hyundai says that with some smart packaging the Nios is more spacious at the rear with more legroom, shoulder room and headroom compared to the Swift&#39;s. We didn&#39;t have a measuring tape but the seats do feel comfortable and spacious. They are designed well to offer good thigh support and bolstering in both front and rear seats. The rear seat bench has a flat design for 3 passengers to seat well.</p>
<p><img alt="Hyundai Grand i10 Nios" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_20190828_101805.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hyundai Grand i10 Nios"></p>
<p>An 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, 5.3-inch digital speedometer and multi-information display, Arkamys audio,&nbsp; projector headlamps are among the list of 21 features that the Nios gets over the Grand i10.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Diesel to stay</span></strong><br>
Diesel may be losing favour in the automobile market but Hyundai is not giving up on the fuel. So, in contrast to market leader Maruti Suzuki&#39;s decision to exit the diesel market once BSVI emission norm kicks in from April 2020, the number two player wants to continue playing in the diesel segment. Therefore, the Nios comes with a diesel variant (BSIV as of now). Both the petrol and diesel variants have 1.2-litre engines and offer options of manual and Automated Manual Transmission (AMT).</p>
<p>Hyundai&#39;s in-house developed AMT has the electronic gear and clutch actuators as against the usual hydraulic ones. This is aimed at making the system lighter, shift shock-free and respond quicker. Not sure about the quicker response but the shifts were fairly smooth.</p>
<p><img alt="Hyundai Grand i10 Nios" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_20190828_101827.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hyundai Grand i10 Nios"></p>
<p>Hyundai is betting on its well tested and validated experience of building Euro 6 engines in overseas markets, and the global economy of scale to be able to price the BS6 Nios competitively. &nbsp;The claimed fuel economy of the BSIV Nios diesel is 26.2 kmpl, a difference of little over 5kmpl more than the petrol version.&nbsp; The 83 PS in the petrol and 75 PS in the diesel exactly matches the Swift&#39;s figures. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">High on practicality, not so on excitement </span></strong><br>
If a car buyer is looking for a spacious hatchback with a healthy dose of modern technology, features and space, the Nios offers them well. It&#39;s a practical car. When it comes to driving, we wished there was more steering feedback. A competent city car it is, but not quite exciting on the highway.&nbsp;</p>
<p>On the looks department, we quite liked the full frontal and the rear look of the Nios. Not quite the side profile, but then looks are subjective.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Certain design enhancements like a wider rear windscreen, reduced A-pillar dead angle and larger ORVMs aid a safer drive. Nios&#39;s body shell gets around 65 percent of advanced and high strength steel along with lower stiffener in the bumper area to offer good occupant and pedestrian safety.</p>
<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4QFT-llmmeM" width="853"></iframe></p>
<p>The Nios&#39; price tags range from Rs. 4.99 lakh to Rs. 7.14 lakh in petrol, and Rs. 6.7 lakh to Rs. 7.99 lakh in diesel. When compared to Swift, the price difference ranges from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. Rs. 39,000 in petrol. In the diesel segment, it&#39;s Rs. 33,000 to Rs. 45,000. Along with the price difference, it may take some very strong efforts by the Nios to race successfully against the Swift. Post-April, Hyundai will look to well capitalise the opportunity that the exit of the Swift diesel will offer. We will keep tracking all market movements and strategies. Keep watching this space.</p>
<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/hyundai-launches-grand-i10-in-a-nios-avatar-43875"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Hyundai launches Grand i10 in a Nios avatar</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/hyundai-rolls-out-first-hyundai-grand-i10-nios-from-chennai-plant-43799"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Hyundai rolls out first Hyundai Grand i10 Nios from Chennai plant</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[With the 3rd generation avataar of the popular i10 range, Hyundai wants to tap the customers preferring premium compact cars. The first hatchback, and possibly the only one, to be launched during the current financial year, the Nios offers more, or does it?]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Passenger Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/1ac67213-ff73-4006-84d9-0ef6ec824edf.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/1ac67213-ff73-4006-84d9-0ef6ec824edf.jpg&h=485&w=73543963https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/hyundai-makes-a-pitch-for-more-with-the-grand-i10-nios-43963
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/hyundai-makes-a-pitch-for-more-with-the-grand-i10-nios-43963Fri, 30 Aug 2019 20:29:00Hyva India predicts uptick with the entry of BS VI tippers<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/536ff740-25f3-499a-a31f-f6094b149545.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><meta charset="utf-8"></p>
<p><strong>As the Indian automotive industry, which is actively engaged in the upgrade to BS-VI emission norms, readies for the big technological shift mandated from April 2020, it will also gain from collateral benefits. That as well as the government&rsquo;s and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman&rsquo;s recently announced big-ticket investment of Rs 20 lakh crore in infrastructure development over five years, will give a boost to the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&amp;HCV) sector. In the recently announced union budget, the minister announced steps to scale up India&rsquo;s infrastructure programmes with more than 125,000 km of rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana at a cost of Rs 80,250 crore. The hydraulic equipment industry is keeping its hopes high for an uptick by the second half of the year.</strong></p>
<p>In a recent interaction with Anand Ganguly (pictured below), managing director, Hyva India, we found out that the market for the hydraulic equipment industry in India is expected to pick up in the second half of the year, on account of the festive seasons and pre-buying of tippers before the introduction of BS-VI in April 2020.</p>
<p><img alt="Anand Ganguly, Hyva India" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Anand%20Ganguly%20web.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Anand Ganguly, Hyva India"></p>
<p>He forecasts a continuing growth pattern for the international hydraulic industry due to the new energy-efficient hydraulics and ubiquitous use of fluid power in modern engineering. However, he does predict that the introduction of regulations relating to emissions standards can have a short-term impact on demand as truck OEMs and owners adjust to the new standards but won&rsquo;t really impact on demand over the longer term.</p>
<p><img alt="Hyva KENNIS e-Power Crane at IAA" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Hyva%20KENNIS%20e-Power%20Crane%20at%20IAA.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hyva KENNIS e-Power Crane at IAA"></p>
<p><em>Hyva &#39;KENNIS&#39; e-Power Crane</em></p>
<p>According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the demand for mobile equipment has been falling consistently post 2011 due to shrinkage in demand in infrastructure, farm equipment and industrial equipment. However, post-2015-16, with the&nbsp;Government&rsquo;s increased focus on investments in infrastructure projects; the demand for capital equipment grew exponentially.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The demand for hydraulic cylinders is primarily driven by the growing demand for hydraulic cylinder based equipment which is used in industries such as manufacturing, construction, mining, agriculture, aerospace, and defence. One can anticipate that the recovery in economic activity will bring cheer to the sector and many of the OEMs will have to expand its current manufacturing facility to cater to the growing demand.</p>
<p>According to a report by Global Market Insights, the single-acting hydraulic cylinder industry will witness growth of over 4 percent by 2025 while the double-acting hydraulic cylinder market is estimated to reach over $11 billion (Rs 79,441 crore) by 2025. The report further claims that the demand is anticipated to exceed further across the areas where the working fluid acts alternately on both sides of the piston such as forklifting, heavy trucks, earth moving equipment amongst others.</p>
<p><img alt="Hyva front-end tipper" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/hyva_products_tipping_front-endcylinder2.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hyva front-end tipper"></p>
<p><em>Hyva&#39;s front-end tippers</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Raising hopes</span></strong><br>
Celebrating its 40 years globally, Hyva, a Netherlands-based truck loader crane and hydraulics manufacturer, came in India in 1997 and started from Navi Mumbai with front-end hydraulic cylinder kits. With operations in 110 countries and with over 3,500 employees around the world, it claims to have over 40 percent market share in front-end tipping solutions globally and now aims to dominate the Indian market. India accounts for nearly 20 percent of its global revenues and comes in third after China and Europe. Today, Hyva India produces hydraulic cylinders, tipper bodies, mobile compactors and container handling systems like hook loaders from this plant. In lieu of the rising demand in the market, in the year 2000, Hyva designed and started manufacturing tipper bodies to suit the application. In 2015, Hyva introduced its new range of waste handling products to help bring about efficient waste management solutions in India.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Hyva India plant in Navi Mumbai" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/0Z5A5335.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hyva India plant in Navi Mumbai"></p>
<p><em>Hyva India plant in Navi Mumbai</em></p>
<p>According to Ganguly, &ldquo;Waste handling equipment and services are becoming more and more popular in India and in the overseas market. Indore won the &lsquo;Cleanliness Award&rsquo; for three consecutive years and we are proud to have played an important role in it. We are in cohort with the Indian government for initiatives such as &lsquo;Swachh Bharat Mission&rsquo; and &lsquo;Make in India&rsquo;.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Considering the Rs 10 billion revenue in CY18 and a growth of 20 percent over the past 3 years, Ganguly confirms that they will continue with their focus on the waste handling products as well as on innovative electronics-equipped cranes. He has also confirmed that Hyva is one step ahead in the Indian market with the latest transformation in its entire crane product portfolio. Along with a full-fledged crane range from 1 to 165tm (ton-metres), they now have a new range of mid-sized cranes in the core 9-21tm (ton-metres) class.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Hyva waste management solutions" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/hyva_lifting-solutions_new-crane-line_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hyva waste management solutions"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Flowing with the current</span></strong><br>
In this age of megatrends, we prodded Ganguly about the electrification trend in the industry and what Hyva was doing about it: &ldquo;Introducing electric engines is part of our general technology development process that leverages the potential of the machinery and facilitates maintenance. Smart solutions can find various applications, including the mining sector. Recently, we have launched a brand-new Hyva &lsquo;KENNIS e-Power Rolloader&rsquo; crane, featuring an electric powertrain, rather than a conventional diesel one. Electric power offers considerable benefits including improved energy efficiency and lower environmental impact &ndash; no exhaust fume emissions and lower noise levels. Moreover, our electric system means that the crane can be operated when the truck engine is switched off.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="Hyva KENNIS e-Power at BAUMA" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Hyva%20KENNIS%20e-Power%20at%20BAUMA.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hyva KENNIS e-Power at BAUMA"></p>
<p><em>Hyva KENNIS e-Power at BAUMA</em></p>
<p>The hydraulic industry also seems to have caught up with the connectivity technology and Hyva has a few tricks up its sleeve in this aspect as well. Ganguly reveals, &ldquo;Hyva Smart is based on extensive use of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology and comprises the development of cutting-edge sensors for the truck industry. The new sensor-based monitoring system adds intelligence to the vehicles. The sensors benefit the end-users by guaranteeing the safety of operations, increasing fleet efficiency, productivity, and better maintenance. Basically, we provide the drivers and fleet owners with an intelligent environment in which they are supported to make data-based decisions. Designed around cloud connectivity, the system is suitable for any type of vehicle and tipping body &ndash; tipper truck or semi trailer &ndash; and can be used anywhere, at any time.&rdquo;</p>
<p>According to industry experts, in 2019, material handling equipment such as level luffing cranes, stackers and electronic overhead traveling cranes will extensively be used by multiple industries such as food and beverage, power and energy, retail and oil refineries other than construction and engineering sectors. This will stimulate the adoption of material handling equipment and thus helps the growth of the hydraulic cylinders market.</p>
<![CDATA[An insight into the hydraulic industry market and the whole expectation that hangs on it. Special insights from Hyva India]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/536ff740-25f3-499a-a31f-f6094b149545.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/536ff740-25f3-499a-a31f-f6094b149545.jpg&h=485&w=73543954https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/hyva-india-predicts-uptick-with-the-entry-of-bs-vi-tippers-43954
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/hyva-india-predicts-uptick-with-the-entry-of-bs-vi-tippers-43954Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:23:00Tech talk: How Tesla makes cars more human<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/70dc1097-202c-48b9-83a4-b3f49748f76a.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Never mind when,&nbsp;can self-driving cars ever even work at all? That&rsquo;s probably the question in the minds of most people. But to work, fully autonomous cars will require the invention of a machine that has the cognitive abilities of a human.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>The building block of a human nervous system is a neuron and millions of them form a neural network in the body&rsquo;s central nervous system. To make autonomous cars a reality, computer scientists need to create artificial neural networks (ANNs) that can do the same job as a human&rsquo;s biological neural network.&nbsp;</p>
<p>So assuming that really is achievable,&nbsp;the other thing an autonomous car need is the ability to see, and this is where opinions in the industry are split. Until recently, conventional wisdom had it that as well as the cameras, radars and ultrasonic sensors, cars already have for cruise control and advanced driver assistance systems, lidar (light detection and ranging) is essential. Lidar is like high-definition radar, using laser light instead of radio waves to scan a scene and create an accurate HD image of it.&nbsp;</p>
<p>One stumbling block has been the high cost of lidar sensors, which only two years ago cost more than &pound;60,000. Lower-cost versions on the way should bring the price down to around &pound;4000 but that&rsquo;s still a lot for a single component. Not everyone believes lidar is even necessary or desirable, though, and both Tesla and research scientists at Cornell University have independently arrived at that conclusion.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Cornell found that processing by artificially intelligent (AI) computers can distort camera images viewed from the front. But by changing the perspective in the software to more of a bird&rsquo;s-eye view, scientists were able to achieve a similar positioning accuracy to lidar using stereo cameras costing a few pounds, placed either side of the windscreen.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Tesla reasons that no human is equipped with laser projectors for eyes and that the secret lies in better understanding the way neural networks identify objects and how to teach them. Whereas a human can identify an object from a single image at a glance, what the computer sees is a matrix of numbers identifying the location and brightness of each pixel in an image.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Because of that, the neural network needs thousands of images to learn the identity of an object, each one labelled to identify it in any situation. Tesla says no chip has yet been produced specifically with neural networking and autonomous driving in mind, so it has spent the past three years designing one. The new computer can be retro-fitted and has been incorporated in new Teslas since March 2019. The Tesla fleet is already gathering the hundreds of thousands of images needed to train the neural network &lsquo;brains&rsquo; in &lsquo;shadow mode&rsquo; but without autonomous functions being turned on at this stage. Tesla boss Elon Musk expects to have a complete suite of self-driving software features installed in its cars this year and working robotaxis under test in 2020.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">50 trillion operations per second</span></strong></p>
<p><img alt="" height="596" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/sidey_6.jpg?itok=MiANEda7" width="900"></p>
<p>Tesla boffins say a self-driving car needs a neural networking computer capable of performing a minimum of 50 trillion operations per second (50 TOPS). By comparison, a human brain can manage about 10 TOPS. The new Tesla computer consumes no more than 100W of power so it could be retrofitted. Bosch and NVIDIA are developing a similar &lsquo;brain&rsquo; for autonomous cars ready for 2020. It&rsquo;s called the Bosch AI self-driving computer.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Also read:</strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-volkswagen-is-bringing-back-manual-gearboxes-43860"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why Volkswagen is bringing back manual gearboxes</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-choice-between-regular-and-super-unleaded-fuel-43795"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: The choice between regular and super unleaded fuel</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-valves-are-taking-back-control-of-our-engines-43736"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech Talk: How valves are taking back control of our engines</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-manufacturers-are-preserving-pistons-43660"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: How manufacturers are preserving pistons</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-hydrogen-could-be-an-easy-cell-43614"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why hydrogen could be an easy cell</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk--hybridising-combustion-engines-with-the-biscuit-tin-motor-42903"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Hybridising combustion engines with the &#39;biscuit tin&#39; motor</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-aluminium-chassis-makes-good-sense-for-evs-43108"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why aluminium chassis makes good sense for EVs</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-volkswagen-dsg-gearbox-predicted-the-future-42971"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech Talk: How Volkswagen&#39;s DSG gearbox predicted the future?</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-electric-motor-that-drives-an-ev-42845"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: The electric motor that drives an EV</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[Autonomous cars must interpret and react to situations as a human driver would. Here's how that will work]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/70dc1097-202c-48b9-83a4-b3f49748f76a.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/70dc1097-202c-48b9-83a4-b3f49748f76a.jpg&h=485&w=73543929https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-tesla-makes-cars-more-human-43929
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-tesla-makes-cars-more-human-43929Tue, 27 Aug 2019 15:35:00The best cars featured in James Bond films<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5e8a14fd-a898-4b31-9625-755a8f34273f.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>A press conference in Jamaica revealed that the new film is in production now, with locations including the Caribbean island &ndash; location of previous Bond outings <em>Dr No</em> and <em>Live and Let Die</em> &ndash; along with Norway, Italy, and the UK, with studio work taking place at Pinewood just outside London. &#39;<em>Bond 25</em>&#39; is set for release in 2020.</strong></p>
<p>Sadly, there was no mention of the new film&#39;s title, nor what cars will feature. Daniel Craig was however interviewed at the film&#39;s launch and revealed that his favourite Bond car was the<span style="color:#FF0000;">&nbsp;Aston Martin DB5</span>, first seen in <em>Goldfinger</em> (1964) but also driven by Craig&#39;s Bond in <em>Skyfall</em>, of 2012.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/iconic-james-bond-aston-martin-db5-sells-for-a-record-$64-million-43846"><span style="color:#0000FF;">On August 15, this iconic Aston Martin DB5&nbsp;&#39;Bond Car&#39; notched a record-breaking $6,385,000 (Rs 45.37 crore)</span></a> during a single-marque &#39;Evening with Aston Martin&#39; at RM Sotheby&rsquo;s Monterey auction, making&nbsp;it the most valuable DB5 ever sold at auction and replete with all 13 original special-effects modifications completely restored.</p>
<p>Bond wouldn&rsquo;t be Bond without his cars &ndash; let&rsquo;s take an expert look at his best, along with the other famous cars that have featured over the years:</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin DB5 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Goldfinger - 1964</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
I barely dare say this, but the&nbsp;DB5&nbsp;is not quite as good as its legend would have you believe. Indeed I&rsquo;d suggest that were it not for its starring role in&nbsp;<em>Goldfinger</em>, it would now be regarded merely as one of Aston&rsquo;s better efforts. What it has in its favour are those landmark looks, a classic interior and a pleasantly characterful engine.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger - 1964)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/2-aston-db-5-4-aston-martin.jpg?itok=l9xWWEjA"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin DB5 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Goldfinger - 1964</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
But a seminal driving experience it is not, dating as it does from an era when Aston Martin had progressed away from thoroughbred, race-proven sports cars it designed in the 1950s, to gentler, softer, more touring-oriented cars.</p>
<p>Wonderful to park outside the&nbsp;Gstaad Palace Hotel, less of a joy to drive over the mountains to get there.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger - 1964)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/3-aston-db-5-3_0.jpg?itok=upY9KQKq"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Toyota 2000GT Convertible (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">You Only Live Twice - 1967</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Almost a brilliant choice for Bond. Not just gorgeous but fascinating to look at and a properly important car too, as&nbsp;Japan&rsquo;s&nbsp;first truly credible sports car.</p>
<p>Its&nbsp;2.0-litre&nbsp;engine six-cylinder engine gave decent power for the era thanks to a&nbsp;Yamaha&nbsp;twin-cam head and triple carburetors and it even handled, rode and steered beautifully for the era.</p>
<p><img alt="Toyota 2000GT Convertible (You Only Live Twice - 1967)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/4-toyota_0.jpg?itok=CrU6pZ13"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Toyota 2000GT Convertible (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">You Only Live Twice - 1967</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
And then they discovered&nbsp;Sean Connery&nbsp;was too tall (at 6 feet 2 inches) to squeeze comfortably into its cosy confines, a problem they solved by simply sawing the roof off to turn it into a terminally cool&nbsp;convertible.</p>
<p>Sadly, this is likely also to have had a catastrophic effect on its rigidity and turned a taut, finely honed sports car into a wobbling mess with all the structural integrity of a sandcastle.</p>
<p><img alt="Toyota 2000GT Convertible (You Only Live Twice - 1967)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/5-toy-2000gt2_0.jpg?itok=xWI1BOri"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Lotus Esprit S1 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">The Spy Who Loved Me - 1977</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
This is a bit more like it? Surely? The early Esprit was&nbsp;sleek,&nbsp;sexy and&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>
handled like a dream. In reality however it was also plagued with teething troubles and somewhat inexact in its construction standards.</p>
<p>Brilliant at dodging trucks and exploding sidecars, but if one really had dived into the sea, it would have needed not only fins in its wheel wells but aqualungs in its glove box too.</p>
<p><img alt="Lotus Esprit S1 (The Spy Who Loved Me - 1977)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/6-lotus.jpg?itok=qWeGLoVW"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Lotus Esprit S1 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">The Spy Who Loved Me - 1977</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
You may remember Bond dropping a fish out of the window as he drove the car up the beach? How did it get in to begin with? My guess is it came in through the&nbsp;panel gaps.</p>
<p><img alt="Lotus Esprit S1 (The Spy Who Loved Me - 1977)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/7-lotus.jpg?itok=E-W1vEmr"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Citroen 2CV6 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">For Your Eyes Only - 1981</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
I must declare an interest: I am a long-time lover of the&nbsp;2CV&nbsp;and can see no fault in this flawless, thrilling icon of style and driving pleasure.</p>
<p>Ok, it&rsquo;s a shed, a yellow shed full of bullet-holes in this particular case, but for fans of inverse snobbery, the 2CV was actually a very clever and quite cool choice.</p>
<p>Production understood that people would feel warm about 2CVs and thanks to handling that looked appalling but was actually closer to inspired, the car made an entirely credible anti-hero. Less credible was its apparent ability to outrun a pack of bad guys in&nbsp;Peugeot 504s.</p>
<p><img alt="Citroen 2CV6 (For Your Eyes Only - 1981)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/8-citroen-2cv-.jpg?itok=nIWNL29l"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin Vanquish (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Die Another Day - 2002</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Another crying shame, not the car this time but the entirely unbelievable and irredeemably lame film it was in.</p>
<p>Stripped of its preposterous&nbsp;invisible cloaking, the Vanquish was, in fact, perfect Bond fodder. It wasn&rsquo;t just beautiful like some of his later Astons, it was muscular and a touch intimidating too.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin Vanquish (Die Another Day - 2002)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/9-aston-vanquish-8_0.jpg?itok=UaomWJpY"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin Vanquish (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Die Another Day - 2002</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Fast,&nbsp;loud&nbsp;and&nbsp;beautifully balanced, it was a real driver&rsquo;s car and even the fact it&rsquo;s truly flawed &ndash; the robotised gearshift is so bad that Aston will retrofit a manual gearbox &ndash; seems to suit the character of our superhero.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin Vanquish (Die Another Day - 2002)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/10-aston-vanquish-11_0.jpg?itok=Q6-JXzxI"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin DB10 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Spectre - 2015</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Bond&rsquo;s greatest automotive coup to date, not just because it was his first company car to be truly bespoke rather than a highly accessorized off-the-peg model, but because it wasn&rsquo;t even meant for him.</p>
<p>For those who&rsquo;ve not seen the film, he pinched it from&nbsp;009. So trust the Jimster to then go and dump it in the&nbsp;River Tiber&nbsp;while, in quite a cool reinterpretation of a very old trick, ejecting himself to (relative) safety through its roof.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin DB10 (Spectre - 2015)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/11-db10-aston.jpg?itok=TfQOILe1"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin DB10 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Spectre - 2015</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
The car was actually a reclad&nbsp;V8 Vantage&nbsp;&ndash; well,&nbsp;10&nbsp;reclad V8 Vantages once you&rsquo;d taken hero cars, stunt cars and promo cars into consideration &ndash; styled in house by&nbsp;Marek Reichman&rsquo;s&nbsp;team at Aston Martin and was Bond&rsquo;s best transport yet. Probably.</p>
<p>Aston&rsquo;s&nbsp;Vantage&nbsp;unveiled in 2017 has more than a nod to the look of this car.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin DB10 (Spectre - 2015)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/12-db10-interior_0.jpg?itok=SiuihtLt"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Jaguar CX-75 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Spectre - 2015</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Bond is not averse to taking on somewhat daunting odds, but Mr Hinx in a&nbsp;CX-75? A Bond car chase has not seemed less plausible since a DB5-borne&nbsp;Pierce Brosnan&nbsp;somehow managed to keep up with Famke Janssen in a&nbsp;Ferrari F355.</p>
<p><img alt="Jaguar CX-75 (Spectre - 2015)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/13-15-b24_su_09794.jpg?itok=3nyPJlV2"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Jaguar CX-75 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Spectre - 2015</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Of course, the&nbsp;CX-75&nbsp;used in the film didn&rsquo;t have the hybrid powertrain and super cool little jet turbine range extenders seen on the concept but it still looked like it would swallow the&nbsp;DB10&nbsp;whole if only Bond villains had quite the same talent as our hero.</p>
<p>But at least we got to see Jaguar&rsquo;s most ambitious car on the move, even if it was some years after the project got canned.</p>
<p><img alt="Jaguar CX-75 (Spectre - 2015)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/13-cx75.jpg?itok=G_DC2anu"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Goldfinger - 1964</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Eh? If there&rsquo;s one thing everyone knows it&rsquo;s that Bond drives a&nbsp;DB5&nbsp;in <em>Goldfinger</em>. Except he didn&rsquo;t. Not at first at least.</p>
<p>Before <em>Goldfinger</em> the film, there was <em>Goldfinger </em>the book, the seventh in the Bond canon to issue from Ian Fleming&rsquo;s pen. It was &lsquo;a pool car&rsquo; that Bond chose in preference to a&nbsp;Jaguar 3.4&nbsp;and like the film car, was the first to feature additional &lsquo;refinements&rsquo;.</p>
<p>These included&nbsp;reinforced bumpers&nbsp;for ramming purposes, a&nbsp;radio locator&nbsp;and a long-barreled&nbsp;Colt 45&nbsp;in a hidden compartment under the driver&rsquo;s seat. Another fact known to few: as a driving machine the MkIII was far more incisive and involving than the DB5.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII (Goldfinger - 1964)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/14-aston-martin-db-mkiii-front_0.jpg?itok=9pKGuD-c"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Alfa Romeo GTV6 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Octopussy - 1983</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Throughout the history of Bond, no nation has been more under-represented relative to its contribution to automotive history than&nbsp;Italy. There&rsquo;s the&nbsp;F355&nbsp;in <em>Goldeneye</em>, but apparently that can&rsquo;t even get away from an Aston DB5&nbsp;30 years&nbsp;its senior, and&hellip; raise a glass and praise the heavens for the cameo of the&nbsp;Alfa Romeo GTV6&nbsp;in <em>Octopussy</em>.</p>
<p>A rubbish film it may have been, but someone on the production crew clearly knew their onions, or at least their V6-powered transaxle Alfas.</p>
<p>Which is why once Jimmy&rsquo;s nicked it from some poor woman in a telephone box, it spends the rest of its small time on screen doing extravagant skids and sounding wonderful on roads that are supposed to be German but look suspiciously like&nbsp;Oxfordshire.</p>
<p>And they must have liked the GTV6: it doesn&rsquo;t even get written off in its final scene as it hurtles into a US West German airbase. It&rsquo;s actually&nbsp;Upper Heyford&nbsp;near Oxford, which now serves as one of the UK&rsquo;s largest vehicle storage depots.</p>
<p><img alt="Alfa Romeo GTV6 (Octopussy - 1983)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/16-alfa-romeo-gtv6_0.jpg?itok=A7QCnksR"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aston Martin DBS (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">On Her Majesty&rsquo;s Secret Service - 1969</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
An understated Aston by Bond standards with no known gimmickry fitted. Appeared in surprisingly few scenes but is remembered today as being the conveyance in which&nbsp;Mrs Tracy Bond&nbsp;breathed her last courtesy of a bullet from the fabulously entitled Irma Bunt.</p>
<p>The DBS had a troubled gestation and was originally intended to have a&nbsp;V8&nbsp;fitted, but the motor was late, forcing 007 to slum it with the&nbsp;straight-six&nbsp;from the&nbsp;DB6.</p>
<p>The DBS V8 did make production, but not in time for the film. It&rsquo;s most easily told from the six-pot DBS by having alloy instead of spoked wheels.</p>
<p><img alt="Aston Martin DBS (On Her Majestyâs Secret Service - 1969)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/17-aston-martin-dbs_0.jpg?itok=tGyaHnRI"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Mercedes-Benz 600 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">On Her Majesty&rsquo;s Secret Service - 1969</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
Bet you didn&rsquo;t know the identity of the Bond villain&rsquo;s automotive weapon au choix. Well, I can reveal it&rsquo;s the big&nbsp;Benz&nbsp;limo used not only by Bunt and Blofeld in OHMSS, but by Blofeld again in&nbsp;Diamonds Are Forever&nbsp;and briefly by Kamal Khan in&nbsp;Octopussy.</p>
<p>We should not be surprised: big, austere and menacing, the grosser Benz made perfect transport for bad guys. And they probably enjoyed deploying its potent&nbsp;300bhp 6.3-litre V8&nbsp;too, making it more than match for some of the rubbish Bond had to drive from time to time.</p>
<p><img alt="Mercedes-Benz 600 (On Her Majestyâs Secret Service - 1969)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/18-mercedes-600_0.jpg?itok=6uLB7NeF"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Rolls-Royce Phantom III (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Goldfinger - 1964</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
What better car for the plutocratic and apparently Anglophile Auric Goldfinger than the only Rolls-Royce to be powered by a&nbsp;V12&nbsp;engine until the introduction of the&nbsp;Silver Seraph&nbsp;in 1998?</p>
<p>So massive, what little performance it could derive from even a&nbsp;7.3-litre V12&nbsp;was probably not that blunted by so many of its components being made from gold.</p>
<p>When it was tested <em>Autocar UK </em>recorded a 0-60mph time of&nbsp;16.8sec, less than a second quicker than the magazine recorded for a&nbsp;1.2-litre Dacia Sandero, a fact only surprising until you learn the Roller weighed&nbsp;<br>
3,500kg&nbsp;(7700 lb).</p>
<p><img alt="Rolls-Royce Phantom III (Goldfinger - 1964)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/19-goldfinger-roller_0.jpg?itok=KA_vRPze"></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Ford Mustang Mach 1 (</span><span style="color:#FF0000;">Diamonds Are Forever - 1971</span><span style="color:#0000FF;">)</span></strong><br>
One of the last proper American muscle cars before emissions legislations throttled even Detroit&rsquo;s most massive V8s. With a&nbsp;7.0-litre&nbsp;Super Cobra Jet big block motor breathing through a four barrel Holley carb, the Mach 1 made&nbsp;375bhp&nbsp;and, far more importantly, a monstrous&nbsp;450lb ft&nbsp;of torque.</p>
<p>The chase in DaF is short and famous for the &lsquo;Stang&rsquo;s two-wheeled escape through the width restriction, neatly forgetting the fact the differential would have needed to be welded up to maintain any speed.</p>
<p><img alt="Ford Mustang Mach 1 (Diamonds Are Forever - 1971)" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/20-ford-mustang_1.jpg?itok=iIXGPwwk"></p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/slideshow/best-cars-james-bond#1"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Source</span></a></em></p>
<![CDATA[James Bond will once again roar back onto our screens, hopefully with a new set of wheels. Join us as we look the best Bond cars of the past.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Passenger Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5e8a14fd-a898-4b31-9625-755a8f34273f.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5e8a14fd-a898-4b31-9625-755a8f34273f.jpg&h=485&w=73543908https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/the-best-cars-featured-in-james-bond-films-43908
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/the-best-cars-featured-in-james-bond-films-43908Sun, 25 Aug 2019 01:00:00Amidst job cuts, automation races to make its mark in India Inc<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/65594376-a8ab-41d1-a0c9-cae8ea8713c8.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>With slowdown biting many companies across the sectors, news of layoffs are flowing from every corner of the country. It is predicted that FY2020 will see the components industry registering flat or marginal de-growth. Many of the companies from the auto component manufacturing sectors incorporate high volume production which engages the employees in some labour intensive and monotonous jobs like loading a small bracket, assembling a small bearing or picking four bearings putting it in one bag and then putting it out. These are what are said to be small value addition jobs. This is one area of the automotive industry where productivity needs to be improved, quality needs to be enhanced and for that, automation in manufacturing seems imminent.</strong></p>
<p>According to an independent study, the RoI from installing a robot is better than employing a person. With the cost of materials and the wages going high and people increasingly losing interest in jobs which does not engage their artistic skills, automation seems like a plausible solution. Gladly enough, India is looking at a phase where traditional jobs with repetitive work are becoming redundant and a whole new set of jobs which require creativity, imagination and a new kind of intellect are emerging.</p>
<p>According to Nikunj Sanghi, chairman, ASDC, &ldquo;There is a false perception that some of the labour unions are hindering the adoption of robots in the plants. Currently, there are no new hirings going on and at the same time many of the senior employees are retiring from some of the oldest establishments of India. Thus, efficiencies are kicking in naturally with automation largely being favoured. Thus, the main reasons why robotics is catching on in India is the current labour law and the need for better efficiency and quality.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Rise of EVs promoting robots</span></strong><br />
The biggest advantage of robots is the fact that they are very flexible, could be easily integrated, reduces production and could be used for the long term. So if a robot is used for &#39;X&#39; application today, then it could be used for a &#39;Y&#39; application with minimum cost inferred by the company. Robots today have the ability to be connected to the Industry 4.0 and to the service web where the troubleshooting and the rectifications are done during the process without the physical presence of a service engineer from the company. Automation finds further preference with the rising demand for efficient and compact EV components. The transition from ICs to EVs would be pretty similar to the one where cathode ray tube televisions with big fist-size components gave way for compact LCD/LED TVs with nano-sized components. The architecture of the future deals with smart, energy-saving compact devices which is not possible with manual labour.</p>
<p>In a recent interaction with Satyanarayana, director of robots, Epson India, we found out that current MSMEs are looking into smart processes in manufacturing for the next-gen components. According to him, &ldquo;We see advancements in the technology when we see the components getting lighter and more sophisticated and having a larger bandwidth of abilities. It has become very difficult to manually handle the assembly of the components and with the rising accuracy levels, automation has become the norm of the future. The entry-level robots will cost around Rs 4-500,000&nbsp;which is within the reach of most of the MSMEs. Even the RoI in a year almost comes the same as that of hiring a person in that period.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The robots from Epson are all for payloads less than 20kgs, which is why they are largely focused on the auto component industry. Epson has SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) robots, 6-axis robots, ultra-low-cost robots and robots that come with vision and force sensors for the complicated tasks. For the time being, robots are largely preferred for the small, but sophisticated components not just in the auto sector but also in the food industry, plastic industry, packaging industry and many more. The level of automation is very much low in India which should be considered as a huge opportunity.</p>
<p>Niyazuddin S, manager &ndash; Robotics, Epson India says, &ldquo;Globally for every 10,000 workers, the average number of robots that are used in the industry is 74. So in South Korea, for every 10,000 robots, there are close to 650 robots. It is probably because of this that Samsung is ruling the electronics world. The story is similar with LG, Harman and all others. Their investments have borne fruit for them. In India, the number is down to 3. So even if you go 6 robots for every 10,000&nbsp;workers then that itself is a big opportunity. Epson is showcasing its proof of concepts, proving that over the period of one month or three months, you could get a return of investment.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Part of the $10.3 billion (Rs 73,812 crore) Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, Epson India, with its presence in 30 cities in India, shipped 2,000 robots in 2015 and in 2017 they crossed the 3,000 milestone. In 2020, Epson is aiming to reach a shipment figure of 6,000, which indicates an annual CAGR growth rate of 24 percent. Their annual turnover for FY18 was Rs 1,896 crore.</p>
<![CDATA[Automation solution providers are pushing for automation in India with a claim that RoI from installing a robot is better than employing a person]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/65594376-a8ab-41d1-a0c9-cae8ea8713c8.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/65594376-a8ab-41d1-a0c9-cae8ea8713c8.jpg&h=485&w=73543903https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/amidst-job-cuts--automation-races-to-make-its-mark-in-india-inc-43903
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/amidst-job-cuts--automation-races-to-make-its-mark-in-india-inc-43903Fri, 23 Aug 2019 17:12:00Kia Motors rolls out the Seltos, looks to connect with youthful audience<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/cca8148f-2a5b-468e-aaa9-257a9213ff04.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Twenty-nine months after it confirmed its India entry plan, Kia Motors, the sister brand of Hyundai and the world&rsquo;s eighth-largest automaker, rolled out the production version of its Seltos SUV, manufactured at its state-of-the-art plant in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh on August 8.</strong></p>
<p>Kookhyun Shim, MD and CEO of Kia Motors India, said, &ldquo;The rollout of the first Seltos is an emotional moment for all of us, especially for the people at the plant as we worked together, relentlessly to build the future of Kia Motors in India. The invaluable contribution made by the government of Andhra Pradesh has enabled us to achieve our target of manufacturing the Seltos in record time.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Bugganna Rajendranath Reddy, finance minister, the government of Andhra Pradesh, said, &ldquo;We are happy that the seed that we have sown is now bearing fruit. The government will continue to take steps to ensure further growth of the industry in the agrarian town of Anantapur.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Sticking to timelines</span></strong><br>
Kia Motors&#39; India project has stuck to its timelines. After commencing construction with the framework installation ceremony held in February last year, it began trial production in January 2019. Subsequently, it held the world premiere of the Seltos in New Delhi on June 20. Less than two months later, mass production has begun at the facility, which also boasts of being a zero-emissions and a zero water wastage plant with recycling, harvesting and conservation systems.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Kia Seltos rollout" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Hon_%20Ambassador%20South%20Korea%20to%20India%2C%20Mr_%20Shin%20Bong-kil%20and%20Mr_%20Kookhyun%20Shim%2C%20MD%20%26%20CEO%20of%20Kia%20Motors%20India%20roll%20out%20the%20first%20Seltos%20at%20Anantapur%20Plant.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Kia Seltos rollout"></p>
<p><em>Ambassador of South Korea to India, Shin Bong-kil and Kookhyun Shim, MD and CEO of Kia Motors India, along with Andhra Pradesh government officials at the Seltos rollout from the Anantapur plant.</em></p>
<p>The plant, spread across 536 acres, has an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles and is also capable of producing hybrid and electric vehicles. The company has invested US$ 1.1 billion (Rs 7,755 crore) into this greenfield facility, and has plans to further increase total investment to US$ 2 billion (Rs 14,100 crore) into operations, products, R&amp;D and market expansion by 2021.</p>
<p>The plant is equipped with technologies such as robotics and Artificial Intelligence. The plant also houses a five-acre training facility offering a basic technical course in automobiles for skill development to provide all the skills necessary for an entry-level job on the factory floor, in the plant. According to Shim, &ldquo;This is Kia&rsquo;s 15th plant globally and is our most advanced facility to date. We are committed to work on elevating the skills of the local population so that they can contribute in building world-class products.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Seltos &mdash; son of Hercules</span></strong><br>
Based on the Kia SP Concept showcased at the Auto Expo 2018, the Seltos&rsquo; name is derived from &lsquo;Celtos&rsquo;, the son of Hercules in Greek mythology. Kia says the SUV is squarely targeted at millennials and tech-savvy buyers scouting for a vehicle that stands out from the crowd.</p>
<p>The Seltos will be BS VI-compliant from day one. It will be powered by a highly efficient, brand-new Smartstream engine in three variants: 1.5 Petrol, 1.5 Diesel and a first-in-segment 1.4 Turbo Petrol, claimed to offer the perfect balance of performance and efficiency. The midsized Seltos offers three automatic transmission variants &mdash; 7-DCT, IVT, and 6-AT along with a 6-speed manual transmission thereby giving a range of engine and gearbox options to consumers that suit their needs and driving style.</p>
<p>The Seltos will be officially launched on August 22 and bookings are being accepted across all Kia dealerships in 160 cities along with the Kia official website. Since the commencement of pre-booking on July 16, the Seltos has already gathered bookings of 23,311 in a short span of just three weeks.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Strong distribution and aftersales network</span></strong><br>
While it may be a new OEM in the competitive Indian market, Kia is leaving no stone unturned to make a solid start. The company has already set up a wide network of 206 sales outlets and 265 touch-points across 165 cities &mdash; the largest retail network for a newcomer ever, it claims. On the service front, Kia Motors India has also announced that it will have 192 authorised service workshops in 160 cities.</p>
<p>The Korean automaker says it is committed to providing the best-in-class aftersales service to customers.&nbsp; With an aim to offer a seamless and new-age car service and vehicle management, Kia will leverage IoT (Internet of Things) technology built into its Kia Link App.</p>
<p>Commenting on Kia&#39;s&nbsp; new-age car servicing and management initiatives in India, Manohar Bhat, VP and Head &ndash; Marketing and Sales, Kia Motors India, said, &ldquo;As a global leader in customer satisfaction initiatives, Kia Motors has been a frontrunner in raising the bar higher by giving the best of aftersales services to our customers. Kia Motors India brings in the similar level of quality and hassle-free experience as we command some of the most advanced tech-driven service centres in the country. Our spare parts network ensures spare parts are available across the country with 4 PDCs (Parts Despatch Centres) in Chennai (South), Navi Mumbai (West), Delhi-NCR (North) and Kolkata (East). We are confident that such a mix of both sales and service facilities will quickly instil the confidence of Indian customers in our brand.&quot;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Targeting high customer satisfaction</span></strong><br>
Easing the process of scheduling a service appointment, Kia vehicle owners will get notified via the Kia Link App about an upcoming service or a service due reminder. The App also enables booking an appointment at a preferred dealer. To eliminate delays and digitise the process, workshops are equipped with RFID scanners. This would be followed by allocation of a service advisor, who will diagnose the car digitally at the e-Vehicle Health Check-up bay and share the report with the customer via the Kia Link Dealer App with real-time updates and progress on the repair work.</p>
<p>The overall aim, says Kia, is to make the complete operations paperless and also provide a seamless experience to the customer. Furthermore, the service centres would leverage Kia&rsquo;s extensive and well-equipped Mobis Network for timely delivery of parts through its four PDCs.</p>
<p><img alt="Kia Training centre in Navi Mumbai" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Kia%20Training%20Centre%20-%20Navi%20Mumbai.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Kia Training centre in Navi Mumbai"></p>
<p><em>Training centre at Navi Mumbai is one of three such facilities. Since June, over 2,400 dealer staff have been trained on dedicated bays for mechanical repair, body and paint repair, and even EVs</em></p>
<p>Through the Kia Link App, customers will be informed of the ongoing work by the service advisor with periodic alerts, thereby increasing transparency around the total time consumed and the cost of repair and service. After final inspection of the car, customers would be apprised of completion of work. This will be followed by the customer receiving an explanation of the finer details of work required or done via KCVG (Kia Customer Visual Guide). The Kia Link App allows for digital payment via the in-built payment gateway.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Highly trained service personnel</span></strong><br>
Kia says the aftersales and service program will be carried out with utmost precision by its highly trained technicians, who have undergone skill enhancement and training programs at one of Kia&rsquo;s training centres in Faridabad, Navi Mumbai and Bangalore. These centres are equipped to train the dealer staff on dedicated bays for mechanical repair, body and paint repair, EV training, sales training, role play, system trainings, digital and virtual training experience. Each facility, spread over 23,000 feet, is a state-of-the-art unit. All four have been in operation since June 2019 and Kia Motors has trained over 2,400 dealer staff thus far.</p>
<p>Given the manner in which it has gone about its India market entry strategy, Kia Motors seems to have its act in place. On August 22, the Korean carmaker&#39;s officially launched the Seltos and announced the Seltos&rsquo; price, which has got SUV aficionados excited and the competition somewhat worried. Why? <a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kia-motors-india-launches-new-seltos-at-rs-969-000-43885"><span style="color:#FF0000;">The Seltos pricing &nbsp;strategy for all of 16 variants covers virtually every price point</span></a> and starts from Rs 969,000 (for the entry level petrol Smartstream G1.5 HTE model)&nbsp;and goes&nbsp;up to Rs 15.99 lakh (for the diesel&nbsp;1.5 CRDi HTX plus (6AT) and Petrol Smartstream 1.4 T &ndash; Gdi GTX (7DCT) and GTX plus top-end variant). What&rsquo;s more, even before the pricing was announced Kia Motors already had over 32,000 bookings in hand. Clearly, now in the SUV battlefield, it will be the SUV-ival of the fittest. Stay tuned.</p>
<p><strong>Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/kia-bets-on-holistic-strategy-to-overcome-latecomer-hurdle-43886"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Kia bets on holistic strategy to overcome latecomer hurdle&nbsp;+ driving impression of the Seltos</span></a></strong></p>
<p><em>(This article was first published in the August 15, 2019, issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[Less than three years from the announcement of its India market entry plan, Kia, the Korean carmaker begins rolling out its made-in-Anantapur and high-on-connectivity Seltos SUV in multiple variants. Kia Motors India is also targeting high customer satisfaction from day one.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Passenger Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/cca8148f-2a5b-468e-aaa9-257a9213ff04.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/cca8148f-2a5b-468e-aaa9-257a9213ff04.jpg&h=485&w=73543887https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/kia-motors-rolls-out-the-seltos--looks-to-connect-with-youthful-audience-43887
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/kia-motors-rolls-out-the-seltos--looks-to-connect-with-youthful-audience-43887Thu, 22 Aug 2019 14:09:00Kia bets on holistic strategy to overcome latecomer hurdle<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/94f62a7b-c7f3-4dba-8f16-d8af8e55dcd1.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>What will you do if you are a carmaker and want to enter a market tipped to become the world&#39;s third-largest in the world, has a relatively low car: people ratio, is extremely competitive with more than 100 models and 15 brands? If you are Kia Motors, you make the debut model score high on design to make that first impression and load it to the gills with features. That&#39;s what I felt on my first encounter with the latest midsize SUV in town &mdash; the Seltos.</strong></p>
<p>It&#39;s not the most favourable time now in the Indian market for OEMs. In about a month or so, it will be a full year of sales decline in the passenger vehicle market. In such an environment, winning customer confidence for a new brand becomes even&nbsp; more challenging. Therefore, Kia has worked on building the fundamental pillars of product, sales and service stronger than many others at launch. It has set up 265 touch-points (192 service points) in 160 cities along with four warehouses.</p>
<p><img alt="Kia Seltos" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Opening%20shot%20-%20frontal.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Kia Seltos"></p>
<p><em>Seltos scores high on design</em></p>
<p>While a lot of effort went into developing the car over three years, and the network, the most challenging part for the Korean major in India was building brand awareness. &quot;It was a challenging issue since the past two years when&nbsp; we came here and then set up our company. We did it with our maximum effort, actually,&quot; Yong S Kim, executive director, Sales &amp; Marketing Group, Kia Motors India, tells Autocar Professional. And that&#39;s because while the other two factors were almost fully under Kia&#39;s control, the consumer awareness or confidence in the brand wasn&#39;t. That explains the use of a meerkat, tiger, astronaut, a few ballerinas and finally Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff.&nbsp; The initial feedback of &#39;Kia is different, premium&#39; to the marketing campaigns is fuelling Kim&#39;s confidence as he and his team prepare to welcome the first customer on August 22.</p>
<p>The Seltos exudes premiumness. The fit, finish and material quality are of a level I would expect in a vehicle of its class or maybe a level above. The seven-inch display in the instrument cluster, a 10.25-inch HD touchscreen infotainment and an eight-inch head-up display (HUD) add to the modern and technology quotient of the SUV. The combiner HUD is a new example of advanced technologies making their way from luxury cars to volume-segment cars now. In the Seltos, the HUD display is quite crisp with options to change font size and colour.</p>
<p><img alt="Driving a Kia Seltos" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Driving.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Driving a Kia Seltos"></p>
<p><em>Multiple drive modes add to the driving experience but there&#39;s no 4WD</em></p>
<p>There are three engine options in the Seltos &mdash; 1.4L turbo-charged petrol (140PS, 242 Nm), 1.5L petrol (115 PS, 144Nm) and 1.5L diesel (115PS, 250Nm) to choose from. All engines are BS VI-compliant. In terms of transmission, a six-speed manual is available for all engines, while a seven-speed DCT is an option for the 1.4L turbo, an IVT (uses chain instead of belt) for the 1.5L petrol, while the 1.5L diesel gets an automatic gearbox.</p>
<p>I could drive only the diesel auto and the petrol DCT and found their driveability to be quite good. The power delivery was seamless. On the wet Goa roads, there were only a few stretches where the vehicle could gain high speeds. Throughout the routes driven, the vehicle felt quite at home. Kia engineers tuned the Seltos&#39; suspension to a &#39;stable&#39; mode of driving dynamics.</p>
<p>Beyond the pure mechanical options, there are software-driven features that provide different driving experiences but only in the Seltos with the DCT gearbox.&nbsp; There are normal, eco, and sport driving modes and also mud, snow/wet and sand modes for varied traction levels.</p>
<p><img alt="Kia Seltos engine" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/GT_05661.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Kia Seltos engine"></p>
<p><em>Being developed in three years, the Seltos offers a good mix of mechanical and electronic/software tech features.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>It took three years for the development of the Seltos at Hyundai Group&#39;s main R&amp;D Centre at Namyang, Korea. Its Hyderabad technical centre also supported with crucial inputs mainly for India-specific engineering. Improved braking distance, reduction in clutch force, and then the common enhanced air-conditioning performance. Oh, there&#39;s India-specific dual horn too! Interestingly, the Seltos comes with a factory-fitted &#39;smart air purifier with AQI display&#39; which Kia claims to be a &#39;first-in-world&#39; segment feature.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">High on connectivity</span></strong><br>
As the connected vehicle megatrend grows, the new crop of models are somewhat incomplete without this technology.&nbsp; First introduced in home market Korea in 2003, the Kia&#39;s connected car technology has evolved and comes in the Seltos as &#39;Uvo&#39;. It offers 37 features under the areas of navigation, safety and security, vehicle management, convenience and remote control. However, network fluctuation could play spoilsport at least for some of the features. For example, after pressing the Uvo button in the rearview mirror connecting to the concierge service, I took some time (over 3 minutes) and multiple efforts for the called-for map sent by the call centre executive to reach the infotainment system. Uninterrupted 3G connectivity is required for seamless service, and it will be restricted to only a few features on 2G.</p>
<p>What&#39;s an SUV without a sturdy body? Seventy-three percent of the Seltos&#39; body uses high-strength steel for better torsional stiffness, along with optimised weight application. Hot-stamped steel in certain areas of the SUV, increased application of structural adhesives, and up to six airbags enhance the safety quotient of the Seltos.</p>
<p><img alt="Kia Seltos infotainment" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/GT_05862.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Kia Seltos infotainment"></p>
<p><em>Network quality may affect some connected features</em></p>
<p>The Seltos&#39; cabin is quite spacious and some creature comforts like ventilated seats add to the comfort factor. It claims segment-leading shoulder room in the front and legroom in the rear. The Seltos is 4315mm long and 1,800mm wide. Inside the cabin, Bose and Arkamys speakers in different variants and mood lighting of various kinds help occupants relax during the drive.</p>
<p>One area where the Seltos&#39; product planning team may have had to put much extra effort is in the varianting strategy. All features obviously do not come in all variants. Possibly, there could be some rearrangements or additions in features once the Seltos hits the market. For instance, the top-end diesel automatic variant doesn&#39;t have the HUD, which I would like to have if I&#39;m its buyer. With a host of permutations and combinations, the customer gets a palette of 16 versions and 13 colours (including dual-tone).</p>
<p><img alt="Yong S Kim Kia Seltos" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_20190806_195029.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Yong S Kim Kia Seltos"></p>
<p><em>Yong S Kim: &quot;Kia&#39;s brand marketing was the biggest challenge in India. The Seltos will help grow the market. We will launch a new model every six months, till we fill&nbsp;up the showrooms!&quot;</em></p>
<p>With so much to offer, will the Seltos (named after Hercules&#39; son, Celtos) power Kia towards a successful start in India? We think it has good potential. Over to the customer now.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first featured in the August 15, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[A well-designed SUV with a bucketful of features and options, wide sales and service reach, and 24x7 customer support is what the Korean MNC, Kia has armed itself with to succeed in a promising but highly competitive market like India.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Passenger Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/94f62a7b-c7f3-4dba-8f16-d8af8e55dcd1.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/94f62a7b-c7f3-4dba-8f16-d8af8e55dcd1.jpg&h=485&w=73543886https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/kia-bets-on-holistic-strategy-to-overcome-latecomer-hurdle-43886
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/kia-bets-on-holistic-strategy-to-overcome-latecomer-hurdle-43886Thu, 22 Aug 2019 13:54:00Tech talk: Why Volkswagen is bringing back manual gearboxes<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/7cfa14b8-7bee-40dd-a94c-d7e1a14a728d.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Automatics and semi-auto dual-clutch transmissions may be technically brilliant but there&rsquo;s still plenty of space left in the market for manual gearboxes &ndash; and it&rsquo;s not only petrolheads who think so.&nbsp;Volkswagen&nbsp;recently announced its new MQ281 manual transmission, which will supersede the MQ250 and replace the MQ350 in some applications.</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Manual gearboxes suit low-cost, entry-level cars because they are cheaper to make than autos and consume less energy from the engine. They&rsquo;re efficient because they don&rsquo;t have any internal hydraulics or other components like clutches or actuators to consume power and they weigh less.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The full name of VW&rsquo;s new &rsquo;box is MQ281- 6F, &lsquo;6&rsquo; for six-speed and &lsquo;F&rsquo; for front-wheel drive. It has been specifically designed to suit the trend of downsizing engines for fuel efficiency and turbocharging them to replace the power and torque that disappeared with the lost capacity. Thanks to the turbocharging, downsized engines can produce higher torque at lower revs. They also run slower at the top end to avoid the greater friction losses at high revs (down-speeding). Because of that, the gearing has to be tailored to suit them.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The MQ281 will equip smaller cars in the VW family, from the&nbsp;Polo&nbsp;to the&nbsp;Tiguan, as well as others wearing&nbsp;Audi,&nbsp;Skoda&nbsp;and&nbsp;Seat&nbsp;badges. So the gearbox can cope with cars of different sizes and weights and it has a decent torque capacity of 250lb ft, which relates not just to engine torque but also the weight of the vehicle it&rsquo;s fitted to and the job it&rsquo;s doing. A wide ratio spread of 7.89 gives a low first gear to pull away easily and a high enough sixth to make top speed at lower revs.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Front-wheel-drive gearboxes generally pose a design challenge because, unlike an in-line gearbox driving the rear wheels, they normally fit on the end of an engine mounted east-west across the width of the engine bay. The MQ281 is particularly compact so it can be mated to an external electric motor to create a hybrid drive. Inside the gearbox, the gubbins is fairly familiar. There are two shafts mounted one on top of the other with the centres just 80mm apart. The uppermost one is the input shaft connected to the engine via the clutch and has gears and synchronisers for ratios three to six. The lower one is the output shaft driving the wheels via the final drive.&nbsp;</p>
<p>To help squeeze everything in, the output shaft also carries the gears and synchronisers for first and second gears. To ease gear engagement on the first two gears, they have multi-cone steel and carbon synchronisers. Single cones are fine for the higher ratios. The lubrication system has a few trick details in it, too, scooping up fluid and directing it through the hollow shafts and to the sixth gear, which sits on the end of the gear cluster and can otherwise suffer oil starvation during cornering. Effective lubrication reduces wear and minimises friction to get maximum efficiency. VW reckons the MQ281 can save 5g/km CO2, depending on the car it&rsquo;s fitted to, and that includes the down-speeding element of the engine. That&rsquo;s a decent amount when every gram counts and it&rsquo;s not to be sniffed at.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>How about hybrid power?</strong></p>
<p><strong><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/16/manuskriptabbildung_12_de.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></strong></p>
<p>The MQ281 can accommodate a hybrid electric drive motor fitted adjacent to it in the engine bay using an optional power take-off unit fitted to the gearbox casing. This makes a &lsquo;mild hybrid plus&rsquo;, with a beefier electric motor than a typical MHEV, able to deliver more torque and provide more effective regenerative braking. The modular design means the &rsquo;box can take a range of gear sets to suit different cars.</p>
<![CDATA[New six-speed MQ281 unit is lightweight, compact and shows that the future isn't necessarily automatic]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/7cfa14b8-7bee-40dd-a94c-d7e1a14a728d.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/7cfa14b8-7bee-40dd-a94c-d7e1a14a728d.jpg&h=485&w=73543860https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-volkswagen-is-bringing-back-manual-gearboxes-43860
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-volkswagen-is-bringing-back-manual-gearboxes-43860Mon, 19 Aug 2019 12:23:00ZF gets future-fit with tech-laden portfolio<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/67b07648-d098-4cf2-bb15-68a94f9e9e78.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>As the automobile gets increasingly technologically advanced, it can be called a computer on wheels. With an idea of enabling various parts of a vehicle to update themselves electronically, German automotive technology and components supplier ZF would like to make them more like mobile phones on wheels! </strong></p>
<p>&quot;The traditional practice involved getting the car to the showroom. However, a remote update system simply shortens this procedure a lot and allows the driver to get the update done whenever or wherever the driver wishes. The way it happens in today&rsquo;s smartphones,&quot; Frank Lesbroussart, director, advanced software development, ZF, tells <em>Autocar Professional</em>.</p>
<p><img alt="ZF electric mobility" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/ZF_GTD19_02-2-2-speed_Electric%20Drive.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="ZF electric mobility"></p>
<p><em>&nbsp;ZF claims a 5 percent increase in driving range and 10 percent better acceleration over a single-stage drive system.</em></p>
<p>ZF envisions that in the near future, many components or systems in the car can be made over-the-air updatable. This will serve two key purposes &mdash; keep the vehicle&#39;s systems updated and also prevent recalls. Recalls cost the industry dearly. It is estimated that the auto industry spent $6 billion on recalls in 2016. &quot;This (over-the-air updates or OTAs) would not only reduce the recall expenditure but will also make sure that the recalls are effective,&quot; says Lesbroussart. As traditionally mechanical systems like instrument cluster, suspension, steering systems and brakes get smart with electronics content, the scope of OTA also grows. This will also help the car fetch better resale value in the market.</p>
<p>The above is just one of the ideas that ZF is designing to live, grow and also shape the technological future. &quot;Forthcoming electronics architectures in vehicles will work like high performing in-car computing centres. In such software-defined cars, software functions and features on vehicle system level and even reaching out to the cloud will play an important role,&rdquo; says<br>
Dr Dirk Walliser, head &ndash; Corporate R&amp;D, ZF. He expects the value contribution of software in content may exceed 60 percent in future vehicles.</p>
<p>ZF has developed a slew of technologies and also invested in some firms to tap the global megatrends of electrification, autonomous driving, connected vehicles, and shared mobility. Along with that, it has also leveraged software to make the conventional vehicle more interesting.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Predictive chassis tech</span></strong><br>
ZF has combined its Vehicle Motion Control portfolio to create an innovative chassis concept. The predictive chassis brings the well-being of the occupants centre-stage: The Flying Carpet 2.0 helps liberate them from unpleasant vehicle movements and predictively helps to smooth out bends, bumps in the road, and potholes. This integrated system links advanced sensors, a smart control unit, and intelligent actuators that lay essential groundwork for the automated vehicles of the future.</p>
<p><img alt="ZF 2-speed eVD system" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/ZF_GTD19_02-4_2-speed-eVD_System.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="ZF 2-speed eVD system"></p>
<p><em>The compact electric drive concept brings together an 140kW e-motor, a two-stage switching element, and power electronics.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Concentrating on work, reading, or watching a film in the car may have been technically possible, but still inconceivable to many people. If people are not paying attention to road and traffic conditions, every chassis movement is potentially a disruptive factor in comfort. One of the decisive benefits of fully autonomous vehicles is that people can use the time they spend in them productively on their laptop, or to relax.</p>
<p>&ldquo;With our Flying Carpet 2.0, we have devised a chassis concept that is capable of controlling virtually all longitudinal, transverse and vertical movements of the vehicle,&rdquo; says Dr Christoph Elbers, vice-president, Car Chassis Technology Development, ZF. During a demo ride, I could clearly feel the difference as the Flying Carpet 2.0 helps reduce the sensation from potholes, bumps in the road, tight bends, or abrupt braking manoeuvres.</p>
<p>The technical basis for this is the intelligent combination of various active and semi-active systems that predictively iron out adverse movements of the vehicle body. At the heart of this is the S-Motion fully active damping system that uses four actuators to adapt the suspension movements of each individual wheel as per&nbsp; the driving situation and road surface features.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">First 2-speed electric drive</span></strong><br>
A key highlight of ZF&#39;s Technology Day 2019 was a two-speed electric powertrain, which had its &#39;world premiere&#39;. ZF has taken a modular approach for this concept which can be scaled up for use in difference vehicles. This e-drive for passenger cars claims to offer nearly five percent more driving range and 10 percent better acceleration compared to a conventional single-speed drive.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="8-speed hybrid transmission from ZF" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/8-speed%20hybrid%20transmission.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="8-speed hybrid transmission from ZF"></p>
<p><em>The 8-speed auto transmission for hybrids allows for both 48V mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids with electric power of up to 160 kW.</em></p>
<p>The new two-speed electric drive for passenger cars integrates an advanced electric motor with a shift element and appropriate power electronics. The improvement in energy conversion efficiency compared to previous e-drives extends the driving range for each battery charge. The modular design of this unit can also be fine-tuned and scaled up for use in sports and performance vehicles.</p>
<p>With its new electric two-speed drive solution, ZF is introducing the next stage of electromobility to the passenger car segment. &ldquo;Every percent of improvement in energy conversion efficiency translates into two percent more range,&rdquo; says Bert Hellwig, Head of System House at ZF&rsquo;s E-Mobility division. To increase the performance rating of the new electric axle drive system, the Tier 1 supplier developed a new electric motor with a maximum power rating of 140 kW paired with a two-stage shift element.</p>
<p>Vehicles with the new two-speed drive consume less energy, which in turn extends range by up to five percent when compared to a one-speed unit. Shifts take place at 70kph. By connecting to the vehicle&rsquo;s CAN communication, it is also possible &mdash; if the customer so wishes &mdash; to devise other shift strategies, possibly linked to digital map material and GPS. The software in the drive can also be updated thanks to the network link to Cloud services via over-the-air updates.</p>
<p>For vehicle manufacturers, the new two-speed drive offers two options for using improved energy conversion efficiency. The OEM could either go for an extended range while retaining the same size of accumulator, or utilise a smaller accumulator.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Eight-speed transmission for hybrids</span></strong><br>
Traditionally, hybrid transmissions are built by taking an efficient automatic transmission and replacing the torque converter with an electric motor with a higher power density.</p>
<p>ZF has taken a different approach in designing its new generation eight-speed automatic transmission for hybridisation from the start. The modular construction system enables mild, full, and plug-in hybrid drives to achieve top performances between 24 and 160 kilowatts. The power electronics are no longer designed as a separate unit, but instead are fully integrated into the transmission housing without increasing the outer dimensions of the transmission. With a new, significantly smaller hydraulic control unit, ZF has created the required installation space for the electric and electronic components.</p>
<p>ZF estimates that at least 70 percent of all new vehicles in 2030 will still have an internal combustion engine. And there a plug-in hybrid drive could considerably lower the engine&lsquo;s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. This is contingent on electric range and electric power, both of which must allow for driving in everyday traffic with battery power only. ZF has laid the foundation for this with the plug-in model of the new generation eight-speed automatic transmission. The electric motor has a maximum power of 160 kilowatts and a continuous output of 80 kilowatts. The maximum torque of 450 Nm can be attained without actuating the internal combustion engine.</p>
<p>The new generation eight-speed automatic transmission is designed for lengthwise installation of the engine and transmission &mdash; a drive configuration that will be successful especially in the premium segment because it satisfies the high demand for comfortable operation and noise reduction.</p>
<p>ZF will begin manufacturing the new-generation eight-speed automatic transmission in Saarbrücken, Germany, in 2022. The market launch in China and the United States will follow shortly thereafter. BMW and FCA are the first set of customers.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Safer mobility</span></strong><br>
Like electrification, the trend of safety is also pushing suppliers like ZF to develop new solutions for safer mobility and, in the process, tap the benefits. A key one among them is the pre-crash protection system with an external side airbag, which is claimed to help reduce side impact penetration by up to 30 percent. ZF says it&#39;s the world&#39;s first such safety system.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="ZF pre crash airbag" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/ZF_GTD19_05-3_PreCrashAirbag.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="ZF pre crash airbag"></p>
<p><em>It takes about 150 milliseconds for the pre-crash external airbag system to recognise the situation and deploy the airbag (280-400 litres depending on vehicle size), helping reduce side impact intrusion by up to 30 percent.</em></p>
<p>ZF&#39;s focus is to mitigate its consequences in the event a crash is inevitable. This applies to manual, assisted and automated driving. ZF Group&#39;s safety portfolio comprises sensors monitoring the vehicle exterior and interior, powerful signal processing, actuator systems for vehicle motion control and occupant safety systems. The pre-crash avoidance system takes approximately 150 milliseconds for decision and deployment resulting in up to 40 percent less consequences of an accident for the occupants. This is achieved by the external airbag creating an additional crumple zone in the door area between the A- and C-pillars. The system is only deployed if high-performance sensors detect an unavoidable side impact collision and activate the protection system in response.</p>
<p>In highly dynamic driving situations such as emergency braking or emergency avoidance manoeuvres, high-performance driver assistance systems come handy, to say the least. For example, ZF&#39;s &lsquo;Automated Front Collision Avoidance&rsquo; system can automatically perform avoidance manoeuvres when manual braking or evasive action in the face of oncoming traffic fails to take place in time. Here, the Driver Assistant system evaluates whether emergency braking is still possible and whether there may be free space available for an evasive manoeuvre. I missed a heartbeat as the car swerved to avoid an oncoming car that suddenly appeared from behind a truck in my VR headset!</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Tech for pleasant mobility</span></strong><br>
Comfort is a major factor for people to opt for travelling by cars. In this regard, ZF is working on ways to reduce the level of motion sickness that many suffer with experiences like dizziness, headaches, and nausea. The Tier 1 supplier is working with neuro-technologists from Germany&rsquo;s Saarland region to investigate how to detect motion sickness at an early stage, and how to avoid a negative impact on the driving experience</p>
<p><img alt="ZF anti-motion sickness" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/ZF_GTD19_04-1-Anti%20Motion%20Sickness.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="ZF anti-motion sickness"></p>
<p><em>The Motion Sickness Research Vehicle records a large number of physiological measuring data, camera data, and measurements relating to driving dynamics</em></p>
<p>A sense of dizziness and motion sickness can preclude any attempt to enjoy the ride or to work while still on the road. ZF is going beyond the purely vehicle-based approach. &ldquo;Our goal is to identify individual instances of motion sickness and to devise measures that relate to the prevailing condition of the passenger,&rdquo; says Florian Dauth, responsible in ZF Advanced Technology Development for activities in the field of Human Centered Vehicle Motion Control.</p>
<p>Motion sickness is caused by a discrepancy in perception: The balance organ in the inner ear senses a movement that is not confirmed by other sense organs such as the eyes. This is most likely to happen when a passenger is concentrating on a screen or a book. In this situation, the human body responds with a reaction that is in many ways similar to the response to poisoning. The symptoms range from a slight sense of unease to acute motion sickness.</p>
<p>In several studies, the researchers at ZF and SNNU analysed the physiological markers that show the highest correlation with the subjective perception of motion sickness by individuals. They also examined how this correlates to the driving dynamics of a vehicle. &ldquo;Our Motion Sickness Research Vehicle enables us, with the help of a high performance computing platform, to record the large number of physiological measuring data, camera data, and measurements relating to driving dynamics. At the same time, the vehicle serves as a platform for the development and validation of algorithms,&rdquo; explains Dauth.</p>
<p>Over more than 10,000km, the team of researchers gathered more than 50,000 gigabytes of physiological markers in the central and autonomous nervous system in the form of thermographic, imagery, and driving dynamic data. In this sector, this is a unique and multi-modal data resource on the subject of motion sickness. &ldquo;It helps us to apply a scientific procedure to the task of gaining an understanding of the phenomenon of motion sickness, and is at the same time a basis for depicting AI-based algorithms,&rdquo; states Dauth as he explains the development process.</p>
<p><img alt="ZF anti motion sickness" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/ZF_GTD19_04-2-Anti%20Motion%20Sickness.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="ZF anti motion sickness"></p>
<p><em>The Motion Sickness Research Vehicle&nbsp;as a platform for the development and validation&nbsp;of algorithms</em></p>
<p>Everyone reacts differently to vehicle movements, and possesses an individual sense of ride comfort. At ZF&#39;s tests, this fact is depicted in an algorithm based on ArtificiaI Intelligence methods that acquire knowledge of the physical reactions of each passenger, enabling a personalised profile to be created. As a consequence of this, individual data are obtained for every passenger in a vehicle, meaning that automated vehicles would actually be able to store the preferred driving style of each passenger.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Connected, smart fueling</span></strong><br>
With activities in automated vehicle development gaining pace, ZF Car eWallet, carved out of ZF last year, took up business to provide an open marketplace for mobility services. Designed to enhance the today&#39;s driving experience and enable the truly autonomous car of the future, Car eWallet and BayWa&#39;s fuel retail chain have successfully implemented &lsquo;smart fueling&rsquo; as an initial use case.</p>
<p><img alt="ZF autonomous driving" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_20190704_143337.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="ZF autonomous driving"></p>
<p><em>While it&#39;s still unclear as to when Level 5 autonomous cars will ply on the road, ZF is developing a bouquet of autonomous driving technologies and also investing in start-ups building autonomous shuttles.</em></p>
<p>With integration into the vehicle on the one side and an easy connection of legacy infrastructure on the other, vehicles and service providers are able to process transactions directly, instantly and securely. The benefits offered are: seamless fueling or parking and transparent experience, independent of the car model or interface.</p>
<p>In early 2019, Car eWallet and BayWa joined hands to pilot the concept of smart fueling. With successful live tests in the field, BayWa gas stations are able to automatically facilitate transactions via the platform.</p>
<p>With a platform designed to be agnostic regarding hardware, software systems and user interfaces, Car eWallet plans to expand its service penetration and enable further service domains, including parking, later this year.</p>
<p>Digitalisation is on the rise. Technology that enhances efficiency, sustainability and convenience will be increasingly the key differentiator in the auto/mobility industry. However, there&#39;s a lack of absolute clarity about the future. ZF seems to be making all efforts to be ready for multiple scenarios. That includes electric bicycles as a micro-mobility solution on one hand and autonomous pods on the other. As transportation/automobiles show signs of losing favour, ZF, one of the Top 5 global suppliers, is trying to offer solutions to improve life with more appealing mobility solutions. The &#39;MobilityLifeBalance&#39; theme launched at this year&#39;s Technology Day reflects just that.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first published in the July 15, 2019, issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[With a restructured corporate setup and a new campaign, ZF, the global Tier 1 major gets ready for an even more disruptive era of mobility.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/67b07648-d098-4cf2-bb15-68a94f9e9e78.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/67b07648-d098-4cf2-bb15-68a94f9e9e78.jpg&h=485&w=73543845https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/zf-gets-futurefit-with-techladen-portfolio-43845
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/zf-gets-futurefit-with-techladen-portfolio-43845Sat, 17 Aug 2019 06:00:00Continental shift<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fd2db980-b23f-4fb6-b188-4b70d7822783.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Smart connectivity, telematics and advanced safety systems were aplenty at the Continental Technology Show 2019, which reveals how the technology major is making a planned and judicious shift into the disruptive future of mobility.</strong></p>
<p>The sight of vehicles zipping at extremely high speeds on an autobahn is clue enough to decipher how progressive and advanced Germany already is in terms of its mobility ecosystem. There are no speed limits and safety is ensured with utmost driver maturity behind the wheel. Yet, this country is billing for autonomous driving so that safety on its roads gets even more pronounced.</p>
<p>I am in Hanover to attend Continental&#39;s Tech Show 2019 and headed to the ADAC Driving Safety Centre in Laatzen, where I am promised an experiential day at some of its futuristic solutions, not just safety related but also encompassing the entire gamut of transformative automotive technologies. It was all about seeing tomorrow today.</p>
<p>Before we got down to the practical bits, there was a session lined up with Continental&#39;s global CEO Dr Elmar Degenhart, who focused on Continental&#39;s vision of zero accidents, zero emissions and zero stress as a plethora of smart connectivity and telematics-based features increasingly underline cars of the present day. &quot;Technology is our strength and is an area in which Continental has an outstanding level of expertise. In the past year alone, we have invested more than 3 billion euros (Rs 23,250 crore) in research and development for the next generation of mobility. A significant portion of this amount will go towards technologies for in-vehicle functions,&quot; he said.</p>
<p>One result of the company&#39;s research is intuitively designed operating systems. Simple communication between the driver and the vehicle with the aid of an intelligent voice-activated digital companion and three-dimensional displays increasing acceptance of new vehicle technologies.</p>
<p><img alt="Dr Elmar Degenhart" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/continental_pp_techshow-0450.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Dr Elmar Degenhart"></p>
<p><em>Dr Elmar Degenhart: &quot;We have to find ways to allow safe use of connectivity features inside a moving vehicle and it is going to be defined by software.&quot;&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>&quot;We have to find ways to allow safe use of connectivity features inside a moving vehicle and it is going to be defined by software. Software is the most critical area for companies in the automotive industry to excel in the coming years,&quot; said Dr Degenhart. Interestingly, Continental has one of its biggest R&amp;D centres in Bangalore with over 3,000 engineers writing millions of lines of code to drive these very contemporary electronic systems.</p>
<p>The company, along with China&#39;s Nuance, is working on an adaptive voice-activated digital companion that reacts to natural speech and is precisely adapted to vehicle conditions. This makes operations easier and the driver does not have to take his/her eyes off the road, thus reducing the risk of accidents.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Dr Degenhart showed an estimation that software content in a vehicle is set to grow manifold over the next decade. While hardware still remains the largest contributor to revenues in&nbsp; vehicle architecture, all that is set to shift towards software and software as a service (SaaS) opportunities. While hardware will marginally grow from US$ 2,470 billion today to US$ 2,600 billion in revenues for automakers, the software will rise six times to US$ 1,200 billion in 2030 from the current US$ 220 billion. Moreover, cloud services and SaaS is also set to grow to $ 1,500 billion, a 50-fold increase from the current level of $30 billion.</p>
<p><img alt="Continental smart voice assistant" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/SMART%20VOICE%20ASSISTANT%20continental_pp_techshow-0232.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental smart voice assistant"></p>
<p><em>Collaboration with Silicon Valley&#39;s Leia and China&#39;s Nuance has seen Continental bring out natural 3D displays and a voice-activated in-vehicle assistant.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Furthermore, development of Continental&#39;s first worldwide 5G solution for a vehicle manufacturer is already underway. On this new platform, the company is combining the features of fifth-generation cellular communications with technologies for short-distance radio for direct data exchange between different vehicles and the infrastructure. The vehicles &#39;talk&#39; to each other faster than ever before, with fewer interruptions and thus are able to warn each other, for instance, of accidents behind a bend or about traffic jams ahead.</p>
<p>With latency coming down to its lowest with the oncoming of the 5G network, the direct possibility of this fast communication technology is also in the areas of autonomous driving and driver assistance systems.</p>
<p><img alt="Continental intersection Cube" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Continental_PP_Intelligent_Intersection_with_CUbE.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental intersection Cube"></p>
<p><em>Extrapolation of multiple sensors and roadside units for I2V communication. Continental aims to reduce hazardous traffic situations at intersections with ongoing pilot projects.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Continental showcased its innovative predictive ESC technology and its CUBE (Continental Urban Mobility Experience), a fully autonomous shuttle service for last-mile connectivity. Sure, these solutions will most likely find their place in a country as advanced as Germany, but will it be the same for India?</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Smart voice assistant </span></strong><br>
As digital habits increasingly push carmakers to bring connected devices inside cars, the use of touchscreen infotainment systems is on the rise among OEMs globally. So much so that screens have replaced 2-DIN systems and within screens, the race is towards implementing the biggest displays ever.&nbsp;</p>
<p>This trend is also driving in the direction of ensuring occupant engagement in an autonomous vehicle, wherein the human mind needs to be diverted somewhere if it&#39;s not engrossed in the driving part. With its smart voice-activation function, Continental showcased an intelligent speech assistant that focuses on the most natural means of communication &mdash; the spoken word, and is able to communicate like a human.</p>
<p><img alt="Continental natural 3D display" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Continental_PP_3D_Natural_3D_Display.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental natural 3D display"></p>
<p><em>Natural 3D display uses diffractive lightfield tech to offer ultra-high resolution; lightfield displays are billed as next-generation mediums allowing comfortable perception of 3D depths, rendering of highlights, sparkles and other complex light effects.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Developed in collaboration with Chinese speech recognition specialist Nuance, the voice-activated assistant, which wakes up to the name &#39;Companion&#39;, offers natural language understanding powered by an efficient and easy to use dialogue development platform.</p>
<p>With natural dialogue design, the capability to understand multiple questions in one sentence, and with its capacity to detect logical connections, the assistant can learn and adapt to user behaviour, preferences and context.</p>
<p>Function-wise, Companion can run a diagnosis check in the car, inform about flat tyres, detect a malfunction and also automatically book an appointment slot at the service workshop! The system uses both cloud-based and embedded text-to-speech engines and is able to work offline as well.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Continental natural 3D display" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Continental_PP_3D_Natural_3D_Display_Detail.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental natural 3D display"></p>
<p>Continental says that it is a modular system with the flexibility to exchange key components and that user&#39;s private as well as the vehicle&#39;s data will always remain secure.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Smart intersections in smart cities </span></strong><br>
Taking the power of connectivity a step further, Continental showcased its range of smart city technologies developed for creating an intelligent infrastructure &mdash; intelligent intersections and intelligent street lamps. The company has begun a long-term pilot project at two smart city locations &mdash; Auburn Hills in the US and in Changsha, China. The road intersections and the street lamps at these two places have been equipped with a range of sensors and roadside units for infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication, thus enabling data exchange.</p>
<p>As a result, pedestrians and drivers will be warned of hazardous traffic situations to avoid potential crashes. Information relating to the position and movement of road users as well as the traffic situation will be exchanged among the intersections, street lamps and connected vehicles using dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) or cellular-V2X (C-V2X).</p>
<p><img alt="Continental's Contisense" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/ContiSense_Option%202.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental's Contisense"></p>
<p><em>ContiSense can continuously monitor tread depth and tyre temperature with conductive rubber-based sensors and relay information to the driver or cloud</em></p>
<p>The technology can, for instance, warn a driver of hidden pedestrians or other vulnerable road users when turning. In addition to intelligent intersections, intelligent street lamps are also a valuable source of data for parking space management and traffic flow analysis. The intelligent lamps can collect data on traffic density along the road and communicate with the intelligent intersection. The data can be used for a range of purposes such as controlling signal changes at traffic lights to reduce vehicle emissions and stoppage times at intersections. The intelligent lamps also automatically regulate lighting intensity to save energy and reduce costs.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Natural 3D display</span></strong><br>
Continental is also looking to revolutionise the way displays are configured in vehicles. It is currently developing an innovative cockpit solution &mdash; natural 3D lightfield instrument cluster &mdash; in conjunction with Silicon Valley-based Leia. Lightfield displays are billed as the next-generation mediums, allowing not only the comfortable perception of 3D depth but also the rendering of highlights, sparkles and other complex light effects.</p>
<p>The technology at use is the diffractive lightfield backlighting technology which offers ultra-high resolution display screens, whereby light conductors with diffraction grating and nanostructures create a precise diffraction of light under the display panel, creating a natural 3D effect.</p>
<p>Passengers in the front and back seats can view the same 3D image from their seat positions. The 3D image produced by the lightfield display is made up of a total of eight perspectives of the same object that vary according to the point of view.</p>
<p><img alt="Continental's ContiAdapt" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/ContiAdapt.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental's ContiAdapt"></p>
<p><em>Continental showcased a micro-compressor mounted on the rim can deflate or inflate the tyre up to 3.5 bar to modify the contact patch.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Using Leia&#39;s cutting-edge nano manufacturing process suitable for large scale and mass volume production, the two companies have been able to bridge advanced lithography onto large-scale substrates with high yields and competitive costs. The collaboration further plans to leverage Continental&#39;s expertise in automotive information systems and sensors to augment Leia&#39;s content platform &#39;LeiaLoft&#39; and enable car manufacturers and third-party developers to create holographic apps for the car of tomorrow.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Intelligent tyres</span></strong><strong> </strong><br>
Continental showcased two new tyre concepts designed to provide a safe and comfortable driving experience in the future. ContiSense and ContiAdapt are designed to continuously monitor a tyre&rsquo;s condition.</p>
<p>ContiSense is based on the development of electronic conductive rubber compounds that enable electric signals to be sent from a sensor in the tyre to a receiver in the car. Continuously monitoring both tread depth and temperature, the rubber-based sensors indicate if the measured value is above or below the predefined limit and triggers the system to immediately alert the driver. If anything penetrates the tread, a circuit in the tyre is closed, triggering an immediate warning for the driver before the tyre pressure starts to drop.</p>
<p><img alt="Continental autonomous vehicle" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_20190703_152543.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental autonomous vehicle"></p>
<p><em>Cube uses Continental&#39;s special radar system developed for autonomous driving. Seven &nbsp;radars, each with a range of 200 metres, continuously monitor the vehicle environment.&nbsp;</em><br>
In the future, the ContiSense system will feature additional sensors that can also be utilised individually, thus information about the road surface, such as its temperature or the terrain can be sensed by the tyre and passed on to the driver. The data will be transmitted directly to the vehicle or to a smartphone via Bluetooth.</p>
<p>ContiAdapt, on the other hand, combines micro-compressors integrated into the wheel to adjust the tyre pressure with a variable-width rim. The system can thus modify the size of the contact patch, which is a decisive factor under different road conditions for both safety and comfort. ContiAdapt allows perfect adaptation to four different conditions: wet, uneven surfaces, slippery and normal conditions. For example, a smaller contact patch combined with high tyre pressure makes for low rolling resistance,&nbsp; generating energy-efficient driving on smooth, dry roads. By contrast, the combination of a larger contact patch with lower tyre pressure delivers ideal grip on slippery roads. The system also permits very low tyre pressures of below one bar (14.5psi) to be set, which help ease driving on sandy off road tracks and while dune bashing.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">The Cube effect</span></strong><br>
Continental is ready to drive another production launch later this year, which it says will be a landmark effort towards autonomous driving.</p>
<p><img alt="Continental Tech Show 2019" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/continental_pp_techshow-0018.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental Tech Show 2019"></p>
<p><em>Predictive ESC anticipates wet surfaces via V2V communication and prevents vehicle run-offs at curves.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>The autonomous EZ10 shuttle bus from the French company EasyMile, showcased as the Continental Urban Mobility Experience (CuBE), is the first to use a Continental radar system specially developed for driverless vehicles and now production-ready. A total of seven radar sensors, each with a range of up to 200 metres, continuously monitor the vehicle environment. With this data, the system adapts its driving strategy, avoids obstructions and therefore prevents dangerous traffic situations on the route ahead at an early stage. Since such autonomous shuttle buses will be mainly used in an urban environment, this system protects pedestrians and cyclists in particular.</p>
<p><img alt="Continental tech show 2019" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/continental_pp_techshow-0007.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Continental tech show 2019"></p>
<p><em>Driver assistance system uses radar sensors and cloud computing</em></p>
<p>Hailing the EZ10 on a mobile app and seeing it drive all the way up to me, with a welcome note, was nothing short of amazing. A short ride in the shuttle boosted my confidence in the capabilities of autonomous driving tech, albeit its ability to perform just as flawlessly in chaotic situations like those in India remains a big question mark.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Predictive ESC</span></strong><br>
Continental also expanded the use of cloud computing, radar and LiDAR systems to realise its vision zero &ndash; the goal of zero accident mobility with a very innovative predictive electronic stability control system. Powerful in-vehicle sensors form the basis for this technology and Continental is combining new radar and camera sensors with intelligent data processing in the cloud, which supports improved functions for assistance systems. The predictive stability control system warns the driver before a curve in the road if the vehicle is traveling too fast for the current road conditions and automatically brakes, if necessary, to adjust the vehicle&rsquo;s speed. This too ensures greater safety and convenience.</p>
<p>A drive around the 1.5km-long ADAC test track in an Alfa Romeo Veloce, equipped with Continental&#39;s predictive ESC technology gave a first-hand experience of how innovative and life-saving this tech can prove to be, especially on unknown roads and highways, where a bend or turn could have a water patch and result in aquaplaning.</p>
<p>To put it briefly, Continenal Tech Show 2019, with its array of exhibits, gave a realistic picture of how far technology has progressed. A lot of it is focused around improving human lives on the roads and some active participation is all that it will take to bring it to benefit the users. The present is shifting to the future &mdash;and fast.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first featured in the July 15, 2019, issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[Continental showcases its latest innovations and solutions for the future of mobility at the Continental Technology Show 2019, Hanover, Germany]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fd2db980-b23f-4fb6-b188-4b70d7822783.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fd2db980-b23f-4fb6-b188-4b70d7822783.jpg&h=485&w=73543826https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/continental-shift-43826
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/continental-shift-43826Thu, 15 Aug 2019 06:05:00Tech talk: The choice between regular and super unleaded fuel<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/edec2f7c-07f0-452d-afa0-3fdde52400a2.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>When you pull into your local filling station, chances are there will be two types of petrol on offer: the cheaper premium grade and pricier super unleaded. So what&rsquo;s your poison? Go for the super just because it sounds like a good idea, or be thrifty and stick with the premium?&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>The most significant difference between the two is the research octane rating (RON) of the petrol. The octane rating tells you how resistant the fuel is to detonation, known as knocking or pinking. In a petrol engine, petrol is mixed with air, then it&rsquo;s compressed and ignited by a spark. When that happens, the mixture burns outwards from the point of ignition like a grassland fire (but faster). The burn should be smooth and controlled, but if the mixture is compressed too much, random pockets of the mixture spontaneously detonate too early. It&rsquo;s audible and can make a sound like dried lentils being poured into a tin can, or a diesel-like knocking noise.&nbsp;</p>
<p>A key way of increasing a petrol engine&rsquo;s performance is by raising the compression ratio, or in a turbocharged engine increasing the boost &ndash; or both. Either one increases pressure inside the combustion chamber when the fuel ignites. In older engines, the threshold at which detonation became a threat had to be carefully managed by engine designers and tuners, especially when turbos came along. Then back in 1982, Saab&rsquo;s engine genius, Per Gillibrand (known as &lsquo;Mr Turbo&rsquo;), dreamed up Automatic Performance Control. APC listened for the onset of knock by using a microphone attached to the cylinder block &ndash; a knock sensor &ndash; and monitoring boost pressure and engine revs.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Today petrol engines use similar anti-knock systems, but thanks to much faster processors in engine computers they can also use algorithms to predict when knock will occur. Naturally aspirated engines delay the point at which combustion is triggered (retarding the ignition) if knock threatens, all of which brings us back to the question of whether you need to fork out the extra dosh for super unleaded. The answer is, there&rsquo;s only one real reason to and that is because your car has a high-performance engine or the handbook explicitly says you should use it. Using fuel of a higher octane than your engine needs or can benefit from won&rsquo;t hurt it, only your wallet.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The difference between premium and super unleaded these days is a maximum of two points (97 octane versus 99) and the chance of a modern engine being damaged by the lower of the two is nil. However, the engineers calibrating higher-performance engines and chasing the best performance numbers are likely to have done so using the highest-octane pump fuel available.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The higher octane allows the engine to use a higher boost pressure and more aggressive settings to pump out a little more power. With the lower octane, it may back off those settings a tad to stay below the knock threshold. Whether you can notice the difference subjectively, though, is down to how attuned you are to your car.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Worst case scenario</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/sidey_5.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 900px; height: 596px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>High-performance engines won&#39;t take well to the wrong grade of fuel</em></p>
<p>Extreme cases of detonation can badly damage an engine. This cylinder head from a very highly tuned competition engine looks like it has been nibbled by rats. Rest easy, though, because there&rsquo;s no chance of anything like this happening to a production car by choosing premium petrol over super unleaded at your local garage.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-valves-are-taking-back-control-of-our-engines-43736"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech Talk: How valves are taking back control of our engines</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-manufacturers-are-preserving-pistons-43660"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: How manufacturers are preserving pistons</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-hydrogen-could-be-an-easy-cell-43614"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why hydrogen could be an easy cell</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk--hybridising-combustion-engines-with-the-biscuit-tin-motor-42903"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Hybridising combustion engines with the &#39;biscuit tin&#39; motor</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-aluminium-chassis-makes-good-sense-for-evs-43108"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why aluminium chassis makes good sense for EVs</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-volkswagen-dsg-gearbox-predicted-the-future-42971"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech Talk: How Volkswagen&#39;s DSG gearbox predicted the future?</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-electric-motor-that-drives-an-ev-42845"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: The electric motor that drives an EV</span></a></strong></p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/under-skin-difference-between-regular-and-super-unleaded-fuel"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Source</span></a></em></p>
<![CDATA[It's easy to imagine pricier petrol liberates some extra horsepower from your car's engine, but it's probably best to save some rupees.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/edec2f7c-07f0-452d-afa0-3fdde52400a2.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/edec2f7c-07f0-452d-afa0-3fdde52400a2.jpg&h=485&w=73543795https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-choice-between-regular-and-super-unleaded-fuel-43795
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-choice-between-regular-and-super-unleaded-fuel-43795Mon, 12 Aug 2019 11:36:00SEZing the initiative<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/eaf948a4-7c02-42ee-8519-27d6f3b2fce2.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>When the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy first came into inception in India on April 1, 2000, the prime objective behind it was garnering foreign interests in the Indian market and subsequently providing a comprehensive platform for exports. Before 2000, SEZs were called as EPZs (Export Processing Zones) and Asia&rsquo;s first EPZ was set up in Kandla in 1965. Through the SEZs, the government wanted to give domestic enterprises and the manufacturers the platform to compete globally. </strong></p>
<p>Governed by a single administration, the goal of these SEZs was always to increase FDI,&nbsp; trade and exports, create&nbsp;jobs, ease of doing business, increased entrepreneurship and overall development of the country. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 416 SEZs have been formally approved, out of which 351 have been notified and 232 are operational. The total investment, as on 31 March 2019, is Rs 507,644 crore and the total employment it has generated constitutes 2,061,055 persons. Exports in 2018-19, as on 31 March 2019, were Rs 701,179 crore, a year-on-year growth of 21 percent.</p>
<p>These Special Economic Zones cater to the livelihood aspect of urbanisation and once the populace experiences a stable livelihood, the next need is a&nbsp;place to live in. This is where the residential zones come in its adjacent regions. A sizeable number of residents leads to the development of other amenities such as hospitals and&nbsp;schools, among other facilities, thus&nbsp;improving the overall standard of living in the region. With the philosophy of 3L - Livelihood, Living and Life, the Mahindra Group came up with the idea of creating cities that are liveable, inclusive and sustainable. This led to the idea of Mahindra World City (MWC), India&rsquo;s first private SEZ.</p>
<p><img alt="Admin Block, MWC Chennai" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Admin%20Block%2C%20MWC%20Chennai%20-%20Copy.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Admin Block, MWC Chennai"></p>
<p><em>Administrative&nbsp;Block, Mahindra World City, Chennai.</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Master plan for sustainable cities</span></strong><br>
Set up 17 years ago, Mahindra World City in&nbsp;Chennai&nbsp;is India&rsquo;s first certified IGBC Gold city. The Chennai segment was the first to host the IGBC for drafting the city certification norms because before that IGBC was only used to certify the buildings.</p>
<p>Mahindra World City is a vast 1,550-acre site with an 89:11 joint venture between the Mahindra Group and the government of Tamil Nadu. Today, it houses around 70 companies of which 60 are operational. Mahindra World City&rsquo;s Chennai division houses Renault-Nissan&rsquo;s Asia Pacific centre and&nbsp;also has Mahindra &amp; Mahindra&rsquo;s own R&amp;D centre for automobiles, called MRV (Mahindra Research Valley), where the XUV 500 and TUV 300 were born. The 200-acre campus employs 45,000 people.</p>
<p>MWC Chennai has around 3,000 people residing in exclusive villas and 3-,2- and 1 BHK flats. The zone also has four-star hotels, a 30-bed hospital, service apartments, commercial complex, multiplex and a fully operational international school with another one coming up soon.</p>
<p><img alt="Aerial View of Amphitheater at eVolve - The GenNxt IT Park in IT SEZat MWC Jaipur" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Aerial%20View%20of%20Amphitheater%20at%20eVolve%20-%20The%20GenNxt%20IT%20Park%20in%20IT%20SEZat%20MWC%20Jaipur.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Aerial View of Amphitheater at eVolve - The GenNxt IT Park in IT SEZat MWC Jaipur"></p>
<p><em>An aerial view of the amphitheater at eVolve , the GenNxt IT Park at MWC Jaipur.</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Pink City&rsquo;s economic blueprint</span></strong><br>
Mahindra World City Jaipur, which went operational 11 years ago, is a 74:26 joint venture between Mahindra Lifespaces and the government of Rajasthan. It is twice as big as the one in Chennai with 1,500 acres for multi-product SEZ, 1,000 acres of domestic tariff area (DTA) and about 450 acres of social and residential infrastructure. It is located off NH8 and within the DMIC (Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor) influence zone.</p>
<p>Located on the Golden Quadrilateral, MWC Jaipur is said to be Asia&rsquo;s first and world&rsquo;s largest (by the population) project to receive C40 Climate positive development stage 2 certification. It is India&rsquo;s first recipient of Gold pre-certification under the Green SEZ category. It is one of the 17 projects that originally signed up the Clinton Climate Initiative. Thus, as part of stage two, MWC, Jaipur, is said to have created a roadmap to be carbon-neutral.</p>
<p><img alt="BMW plant at MWC Chennai" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/BMW%20-%20DTA%20at%20MWC%20Chennai.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="BMW plant at MWC Chennai"></p>
<p><em>BMW plant at MWC Chennai</em></p>
<p>In an exclusive chat with Sanjay Srivastava (pictured below), Business Head, Mahindra World City, Jaipur and Director for &#39;ORIGINS&#39; Ahmedabad, we came to know that the then chief minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, invited the Mahindra Group to sign an MoU in 2005 for developing the ecosystem for business houses. In 2008, Phase I went operational. Initiated with the goal of projecting the state of Rajasthan as more than a land of forts and historical places, Mahindra World City, Jaipur today has almost 90 clients with almost 55 of them operational and employing 11,000 direct and 25,000 indirect staff.</p>
<p><img alt="Sanjay Srivastava" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Sanjay%20Srivastava.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Sanjay Srivastava"></p>
<p><em>Sanjay Srivastava, Business Head, Mahindra World City, Jaipur.</em></p>
<p>According to Srivastava, the exports from the Jaipur division is clocking at Rs 1,200 crore per annum. Srivastava observes, &ldquo;Rajasthan has a lot of small entrepreneurs and what has worked well here is that there is a lot of small and mid-size businesses who want to be a part of this world city and further establish their credibility.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="JCB plant at MWC Jaipur" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/JCB%20-%20DTA%20at%20MWCJ.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="JCB plant at MWC Jaipur"></p>
<p><em>The JCB plant at MWC Jaipur</em></p>
<p>JCB has set up its second-largest plant in the world in Jaipur, after the one in the UK. Jaipur has the Brazilian company, Perto, which is its only 100 percent FDI outside Latin America. Triumph is doing contract manufacturing here.</p>
<p>Talking about some of its high-profile clients at Jaipur, Srivastava says, &ldquo;JCB initially set up a plant in Faridabad and then two small units in Pune. Later, they drew up an expansion plan for Rs 500 crore for which many Indian states had rolled out their red carpets. But JCB chose to invest it in MWC, Jaipur, even though we (Mahindra &amp; Mahindra Group) are competitors in one or two segments, especially in the heavy engineering machinery. Their choice was squarely based on the fact that we create the complete ecosystem -- the road, water, sewer, electricity and so on. This plug-and-play model enabled JCB to go operational from the first process of construction in just 322 days.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="Metlife - IT centre at MWC Jaipur" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Metlife%20-%20Evolve%20%28IT%20SEZ%29%20at%20MWC%20Jaipur.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Metlife - IT centre at MWC Jaipur"></p>
<p><em>Metlife office building at MWC, Jaipur</em></p>
<p>Such huge investments and high profile clients have attracted a number of auto ancillaries like Ind Auto, Sri Krishna Maruti, Maxop Engineering, Manu Yantralay, Ball Corporation and many others. Thus, it has evoked the interests of other auto industry giants towards investing in Jaipur.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">A global platform for local players</span></strong><br>
These two MWCs has inspired the creation of two smaller world cities under the brand of &lsquo;Origins&rsquo;. This is the second part of Integrated Cities and Industrial Cluster (IC&amp;IC) and is more aligned to serve local manufacturing. There is one Origins in North Chennai which is a 60:40 partnership with the Sumitomo Corporation. Yanmar Engines, one of the biggest engine manufacturers based out of Japan, has&nbsp;set up their manufacturing hub here after being present in India for the past 15 years through sales and distribution. The second Origins is in Ahmedabad, on the Ahmedabad-Rajkot corridor, and is said to be beneficial for auto ancillaries.</p>
<p>Talking on the future of the Indian manufacturing scene, Srivastava comments, &ldquo;Some of the initiatives that were declared by some of the previous governments should be turned into policies. We are in talks with NITI Aayog and have brought to their notice that upcoming large investments should be directed towards the fully developed regions instead of spending on green fields which consumes more time and capital. Industrialists are not looking for the cheapest land. They are looking for a plug-and-play model which guarantees the shortest time to market and thuse gives the fastest return on investment.&rdquo;</p>
<p>His advice to the new prospects in India is that if&nbsp;an ecosystem has to be an accelerator, then it should be in a high-growth corridor. It should have easy access to domestic and international markets and have a good mix of national and state support. Always go for a clean land title with ready-to-go infrastructure, is his parting advice to investors. &nbsp;</p>
<![CDATA[Special Economic Zones can be energetic growth drivers for the manufacturing sector. That’s what Sanjay Srivastava, Business Head, Mahindra World City, Jaipur and Director for ORIGINS Ahmedabad, tells us in a recent interaction. ]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/eaf948a4-7c02-42ee-8519-27d6f3b2fce2.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/eaf948a4-7c02-42ee-8519-27d6f3b2fce2.jpg&h=485&w=73543745https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/sezing-the-initiative-43745
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/sezing-the-initiative-43745Mon, 05 Aug 2019 17:33:00Tech Talk: How valves are taking back control of our engines<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/d23ad572-0e61-42d6-ba5d-8ebe9eb5140d.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>One way of improving the performance, efficiency and emissions of a combustion engine is to take better control of its breathing.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><em>Autocar UK</em> first looked at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/new-engine-valve-tech-gives-petrols-efficiency-diesels">intelligent valve technology (iVT) system from British company Camcon</a>&nbsp;in 2017, and now a single-cylinder version, called Single Cylinder Intelligent Valve Technology (SCI), has been adopted by Brunel University London&rsquo;s Centre for Advanced Powertrain and Fuels (CAFP). CAFP will use it for advanced combustion research.&nbsp;</p>
<p>So what does iVT do? A basic valve train has no variability when the engine is running. Valves are opened by cams on a shaft and usually closed by a spring. It is impossible for an engine to be well-mannered and flexible to drive at low revs and give its absolute best in the power stakes at high revs, so there has to be a compromise between the two. Variable cam timing (phasing), lift and now the duration of valve opening (<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-manufacturers-are-preserving-pistons-43660"><span style="color:#FF0000;">see Hyundai&rsquo;s new CVVD system</span></a>) are all in play, but the ideal would be to have complete control of each valve independently of the engine crankshaft.&nbsp;</p>
<p>What iVT does is replace &lsquo;one for all&rsquo; camshafts with separate opening and closing mechanisms for each valve. Many &lsquo;camless&rsquo; technologies have been tried in the past, some wackier than others and usually replacing cams with electromagnetic solenoids, but so far no solution has made it to production. Camcon&rsquo;s system retains cams, but one for each valve, mounted across the cylinder head rather than lengthways and driven by electric actuators rather than a chain or belt from the crankshaft. The system replaces the traditional camshaft of a conventional engine with a digital one, giving each valve the freedom to potentially do what it likes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The three separate functions of timing, lift and duration of lift (how long the valve stays open) are rolled into one, but iVT goes further. Both the inlet and exhaust valves can be moved at any point in the four-stroke cycle, allowing minute control of the engine&rsquo;s breathing. So accurate is the system that even the way a valve opens and closes can be changed on the fly. For example, the point at which maximum lift is achieved can be varied, earlier or later in relation to the piston&rsquo;s position in the cylinder. The valve can be lifted very rapidly, then held at the desired amount of lift (which in turn is variable), then closed equally quickly. Alternatively, the valve can be lifted slowly then accelerated the last bit to maximum lift before closing again.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Minutely variable control like this couldn&rsquo;t be achieved with conventional valve springs, so the Camcon system is &lsquo;Desmodronic&rsquo;, meaning valves are closed mechanically as well as opened, meaning there are no valve springs. The system is a real breakthrough and has been trialled successfully on a 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol engine in a&nbsp;Jaguar XF, but it can be applied to any piston engine running any type of fuel and with any number of cylinders.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Renault&rsquo;s early iVT</span></strong><br>
<img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/ac%20rENAULT.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 900px; height: 596px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Renault&#39;s early iVT technology offered a claimed 2 percent&nbsp;more torque.</em></p>
<p>Renault revealed a spring-assisted, electronically actuated camless system in 1999, claiming 20% more torque and 15-20% fuel consumption and emissions reductions. Those stats will have been surpassed today by other methods, which is probably one reason why the idea was set aside &ndash; that and the fact that solenoidactuated valves proved to be difficult to crack in practice, especially at higher revs.</p>
<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-manufacturers-are-preserving-pistons-43660"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: How manufacturers are preserving pistons</span></a></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-hydrogen-could-be-an-easy-cell-43614"><span style="color:#FF0000;"><b>Tech talk: Why hydrogen could be an easy cell</b></span></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk--hybridising-combustion-engines-with-the-biscuit-tin-motor-42903"><span style="color:#FF0000;"><b>Tech talk: Hybridising combustion engines with the &#39;biscuit tin&#39; motor</b></span></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-aluminium-chassis-makes-good-sense-for-evs-43108"><span style="color:#FF0000;"><b>Tech talk: Why aluminium chassis makes good sense for EVs</b></span></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-volkswagen-dsg-gearbox-predicted-the-future-42971"><span style="color:#FF0000;"><b>Tech Talk: How Volkswagen&#39;s DSG gearbox predicted the future?</b></span></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-electric-motor-that-drives-an-ev-42845"><span style="color:#FF0000;"><b>Tech talk: The electric motor that drives an EV</b></span></a></p>
<![CDATA[Intelligent valve technology (iVT) is reshaping the way camshafts work, and could herald a new era for combustion.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/d23ad572-0e61-42d6-ba5d-8ebe9eb5140d.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/d23ad572-0e61-42d6-ba5d-8ebe9eb5140d.jpg&h=485&w=73543736https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-valves-are-taking-back-control-of-our-engines-43736
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-valves-are-taking-back-control-of-our-engines-43736Mon, 05 Aug 2019 10:35:00Greaves Cottons on to electric mobility<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/b56ba943-7b8d-4f2d-9167-9efb5986b61a.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The largest small diesel engine manufacturer in India is eyeing a future beyond fossil fuels by developing fuel-agnostic powertrain technologies including CNG. Having acquired a stake in Ampere Vehicles, the Mumbai-based firm is now among the first OEMs taking the plunge into EVs to provide both last-mile affordable mass mobility and a charging infrastructure too.</strong></p>
<p>The times, they are a-changing. And moving with the times is just what the 160-year-old Mumbai-based Greaves Cotton is doing. Unwilling to rest on its past laurels to stay relevant in the future, which essentially will be a fast-changing mobility landscape, the primarily small diesel engine maker is betting big on EVs to charge its future growth.</p>
<p>At present, its revenue split between small diesel engines, the aftermarket and new business is 49, 25 and 25 percent respectively. The company believes this is likely to change dramatically over the next decade, which is why it is working on fuel-agnostic powertrain solutions including a strong focus on electric vehicles (EVs) in the form of scooter and load-carrying vehicles targeted at last-mile connectivity and delivery, through its recent acquisition, Ampere Vehicles of Coimbatore.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Greaves' four-cylinder 'Leap' lightweight diesel engines " src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Picture10%20%281%29.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Greaves' four-cylinder 'Leap' lightweight diesel engines "></p>
<p><em>Greaves&#39; four-cylinder &#39;Leap&#39; lightweight diesel engines are popular with 3-wheeler and small 4-wheeled commercial vehicle OEMs in India. While Piaggio Vehicles is a longstanding customer, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra has come on board to source BS VI-compliant powertrain solutions for Mahindra three-wheelers</em></p>
<p>&ldquo;We clearly anticipate that, over a period of time, the new business will grow significantly faster and fuel our growth in the future. As fuel preference changes in India, Greaves will be ready for the fuel of the future, and we are making the technological shift with a commitment of investment. While doing this, our deeper understanding of the last-mile customer over several years will help us in this journey,&rdquo; says Nagesh Basanvanhalli, MD and CEO of Greaves Cotton.</p>
<p>The extent of Greaves&#39; stranglehold on the small diesel engine market is reflected in the fact that seven out of 10 autorickshaws in India are powered by Greaves engines, which translates into a 70 percent market share in diesel three-wheelers in India. The company has 5 million engines on the road, produces an engine every minute, transports 500,000 tonnes&nbsp; of cargo and 10 million passengers every single day, with 9,000-plus strong service network to boot. Its two-year-old Greaves Care B2B initiative has a base of 150,000 customers and is growing rapidly.</p>
<p>Bullish on CNG, Greaves Cotton has partnered with a US-based company to introduce a new CNG technology claimed to deliver 25 percent higher fuel efficiency compared to the IC engine. Given the growing preference for eco-friendly fuels, the company believes its engine business will come down to 40 percent by 2024 as its other businesses, primarily the EV pie, will grow rapidly. Therefore, as part of its future growth plan, Greaves is aggressively investing in EV products, technologies, production capacities and infrastructure to stay relevant and also at the forefront of the EV game.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Plugging into Ampere</span></strong><br>
Providing affordable mobility is a core goal for Greaves Cotton and it has strategically moved to a fuel-agnostic solutions portfolio including diesel, petrol, CNG and electric as the market continues to evolve.</p>
<p>In August last year,taking a big bet towards yet other important emerging mobility solution, Greaves acquired the Coimbatore-based EV start-up Ampere Vehicles. Set up in 2008 and founded by Annamalai Hemalatha, Ampere is today a leading brand in the last-mile mobility EV segment.</p>
<p><img alt="Ampere scooters" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Ampere%20Zeal.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Ampere scooters"></p>
<p><em>Ampere Vehicles, Greaves Cotton&#39;s e-mobility arm, recently launched the Zeal electric scooter, which has a top speed of 55kph and a 75km travel range with charging time of 5.5 hours. Under the FAME II benefit, it gets a Rs 18,000 subsidy.</em></p>
<p>Ampere has strong in-house capabilities in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing of EVs across applications. With Ampere, Greaves plans to leverage the home-grown, innovative EV maker to muscle ahead in the EV game. Ampere has a wide product portfolio catering to both personal and industrial applications that lie in the Rs 35,000 to Rs 100,000 price range. Ampere is known to be the first company to have launched a 60-volt scooter in India. At present, the EV maker has over 40,000 scooters running on Indian roads, primarily in semi-urban and rural areas.</p>
<p>The company now eyes more traction in urban India where it finds considerable potential for last-mile connectivity applications. Ampere retails three low-speed scooter models and one high-speed model, along with a three-wheeler load carrier and passenger carrier, golf cart, electric cycle and industrial applications. For Ampere which , over the past decade, has developed and enjoys a strong brand connect with consumers in semi-urban and rural areas, the backing of a strong industry player like Greaves is essential if it is to make its presence felt in the urban and rural markets to achieve its next phase of growth.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Hemalatha Annamalai, managing director, Ampere Vehicles, says: &ldquo;There is a huge opportunity in the personal commuter space and we are scaling up rapidly to take advantage of this. Ampere has been able to build capabilities because we are extremely good in powertrain &mdash; the motor, controller, charger and converters &mdash; which is being designed, develop and manufacture in-house at Coimbatore, which makes us unique in the market.&quot;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Zeal for electric mobility</span></strong><br>
Expanding Ampere&#39;s electric scooter range, last month Greaves launched the new high-speed Ampere Zeal at Rs 69,000, which is approved under the FAME II scheme with an Rs 18,000 subsidy per scooter. The company says the Zeal&#39;s running cost of a minuscule 0.16 paise per kilometre offers nearly 90 percent cost saving over a petrol scooter. What is helping Ampere keep costs low is its robust supplier base in Coimbatore to source critical parts for its vehicles. The Zeal, for example, is 85 percent localised.</p>
<p><img alt="Hemalatha Annamalai" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Hemalatha%20Annamalai%20-%20Ampere%20Vehicles.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hemalatha Annamalai"></p>
<p><em>Ampere Vehicles&#39; Hemalatha Annamalai: &quot;We are extremely good in EV powertrain &mdash; motor, controller, charger and converters &mdash; designed, developed and made in-house.&quot;</em></p>
<p>The Zeal, which was completely designed and developed in Coimbatore in 18 months flat, comes with 60V 7.5A lithium-ion batteries that take 5-6 hours to charge and offer 70-75km travel on a single charge, with both Power and Eco mode. The lightweight scooter goes from 0-50kph in 14 seconds and is claimed to have the highest power-to-weight ratio. Other highlights of the Zeal are tubeless tyres, anti-theft alarm and a digital display. The Zeal has been commercially launched in Tamil Nadu and will gradually be introduced in other parts of the country. The company says initial customer feedback is encouraging especially about the styling quotient, ride quality and handling.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Being an entrepreneur driving this venture, one of the social goals is women empowerment and today 40 percent of the workforce at the assembly line comprises women. Secondly, our constant focus is on job creation, so we offer jobs to engineering students from Tier 1 and 2 towns and help make them industry-ready,&rdquo; says Hemalatha.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Building an EV eco-system in India</span></strong><br>
Greaves Cotton is not just banking on a superior product and affordable price to achieve scale. It has a larger game-plan in place with an EV business team working to solve all customer pain-points. Mindful of the fact that EVs are just about starting to find their feet in India, the company believes customers need strong handholding to make their EV experience a satisfying one. Therefore, a 360-degree approach is being adopted, which involves being with the customer from the point of sale through to service, spares and charging network. Greaves has set up a 24x7 call centre for customers to reach out. Comprehensive customer support will help accelerate EV adoption in India and Greaves has also begun offering finance to both low and high-speed e-bike buyers in India through a partnership with financial institutions. What&#39;s noteworthy is that it is the first company to offer finance for low-speed electric bikes in India.</p>
<p><img alt="Nagesh Basanvanhalli" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Nagesh%20Basavanhalli%20-%20MD%20%26%20CEO%20Greaves%20Cotton%20Limited.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Nagesh Basanvanhalli"></p>
<p><em>Greaves Cotton&#39;s Nagesh Basanvanhalli: &quot;Greaves is ready for the fuel of the future and we are making the technological shift with a commitment of investment.&quot;</em></p>
<p>According to K Vijaya Kumar, president, Greaves Cotton, &ldquo;The first primary goal is creating a service infrastructure across India. At present, we have 325 outlets, which makes us one of the largest EV service networks in India. We also supply spares, which are made by us, through our strong retail touch-points. Now the goal is to set up 5,000-plus retail touch-points with charging points across India.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The overarching plan is to provide a hassle-free ownership experience with a charge-anywhere service across the country. This plan will involve setting up nearly 5,000 charging stations in a phased manner. The first 100 outlets are planned in the next 2-3 months time, starting from the Southern part of the India where the company already has higher penetration. Greaves is now working aggressively to set up charging facilities at petrol dispensing stations, malls or other commercial places to create a charging network for an easy, comfortable and convenient EV ownership experience.</p>
<p>Greaves believes India is changing rapidly in several ways, what with the Metro coming up in several cities, change in commuting habits like shared mobility solutions, last-mile connectivity and also emerging services like bike renting. &ldquo;We are offering our customer a similar experience in the EVs what is used to getting today. We will be the first large player to set the standards and deliver to our customers. In servicing EVs today, we are one of the largest players in India,&quot; says Vijaya Kumar.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Dual-battery strategy</span></strong><br>
Unlike its peers, Greaves offers both lithium ion and lead-acid batteries for its scooters and e-rickshaws. Commenting on this dual-battery strategy, Hemalatha says typically, in India, customer expectations are highly diverse and every market has its nuances. This means one technology is not suitable for everyone. Also, lead-acid battery is a proven technology but lately lithium ion has picked up worldwide but is expensive than lead acid. Customers in semi-urban or rural areas may not be able to afford a change of lithium-ion battery in 2-3 years but can with a lead-acid battery. At present, Ampere is carrying out a pilot with local battery makers for lithium-ion batteries.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="wall mounted charger" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Wall-mounted%20Charger.png&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="wall mounted charger"></p>
<p><em>Wall-mounted 60V charger for EVs</em>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Some insights and feedback from EV buyers is that they are quite conscious of the price of the scooter and the running cost. Secondly, they are also looking at the convenience of using an electric scooter. &ldquo;The important aspect today, compared to 2008 when Ampere started, is that awareness about electric vehicles has significantly increased among average consumers. This is partly because of the push by the government, and partly consumers are also looking at other conveniences offered by an EV,&rdquo; says Hemalatha.</p>
<p><img alt="Mitra load carrier" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Mitra%20Load%20carrier%20250-400%20payload%20for%20industrial%20applications.png&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Mitra load carrier"></p>
<p><em>Mitra load carrier with a 250-400kg payload for industrial applications</em></p>
<p>Speaking on the charging network and range anxiety, Basanvanhalli says: &ldquo;The Ampere teams have been working on EVs over the past 10 years. As a result, we have the technologies available especially on<br>
the charging. The real question is: can we scale it up? The answer is yes, but the approach is methodical with the increased usage with the right value proposition.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Wall-mounted charger</span></strong><br>
Successful EV penetration can be achieved by providing a robust, convenient easy to use charging infrastructure. To address this, Greaves has developed a couple of charging solutions like a wall-mounted charger for 60V vehicles where multiple EVs can be charged simultaneously. This is targeted at residential apartments for multiple chargers where the charging sockets aren&rsquo;t available at every parking place.</p>
<p><img alt="Trigo" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Trigo%20load%20carrier%20250%20kg%20payload.png&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Trigo"></p>
<p><em>Trigo load carrier with 250kg payload</em></p>
<p>The wall-mounted charger, which is equipped with an ISI-certified energy meter to source power supply directly from an electricity supplier,&nbsp; can record how much energy is consumed. This charger can be used for any 48 or 60 volts vehicle for normal charging (5-6 hours) and&nbsp; deployed at the commercial places like cafés or malls. And, in an apprach similar to what Ather Energy has done, Greaves is forging partnerships with commercial establishments to set up its chargers, and also with customers in their garages.</p>
<p>Greaves has another charging solution called &lsquo;Array Charger&rsquo;. This indigenously developed solution by Greaves and Ampere is meant for fleet customers who use a large number of scooters for&nbsp; commercial operations. Array Charger is a proof of concept which carries out fast charging irrespective of the vehicle voltage; as many as six scooters can be charged at a time. These chargers are going to be deployed shortly as a pilot.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Greaves outlet" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Greaves%20outlet%20for%20sales%2C%20service%20and%20spare.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Greaves outlet"><em>Greaves Cotton is to soon unveil a new retail branding strategy&nbsp;for its clean technology and last-mile transportation solutions.&nbsp;&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In a nutshell, Greaves Cotton aims to become an end-to-end EV eco-system provider by developing and retailing&nbsp; products, technology platforms and customer care through Ampere, infrastructure, service and aftersales support. The company says there are 200 million people at the bottom of the pyramid in India who need affordable, efficient&nbsp; transportation. With Ampere, the company believes it has considerable growth opportunities as<br>
EVs get into acceleration mode, with the government also providing ample support.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;We encourage other large OEMs in India to join the two-wheeler EV industry, which has really big potential. This is an opportunity where awareness is growing significantly. Therefore, if a couple of major players come along, it will help everyone to provide responsible and reliable transportation on a mass scale,&rdquo; concludes Basavanhalli.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Golf cart" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Golf%20Cart%20Payload%204-6%20seats%2070%20km%20one%20carge%2025%20km%20speed.png&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Golf cart"></p>
<p><em>An Ampere electric golf cart. It can seat 4-6 people, goes 70km on a single charge and has a top speed of 25kph&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>It&#39;s still early days yet and the government too has thrown down the gauntlet to two- and three-wheeler OEMs to go all-electric by 2023 and 2025 respectively. While leading OEMs have asked for more time to come up with a decisive EV roadmap, Greaves Cottton has already charted out its own. Now it&#39;s time for the consumer to plug in.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first published in the July 1, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[​Greaves Cotton along with Ampere Vehicles is taking the plunge into EVs to provide both last-mile affordable mass mobility and a charging infrastructure too]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/b56ba943-7b8d-4f2d-9167-9efb5986b61a.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/b56ba943-7b8d-4f2d-9167-9efb5986b61a.JPG&h=485&w=73543849https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/greaves-cottons-on-to-electric-mobility-43849
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/greaves-cottons-on-to-electric-mobility-43849Thu, 01 Aug 2019 06:00:00How electric bike rental companies could popularise battery swapping in India<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/2c68fb31-23a6-4cce-ada9-2cf53bbfdb7b.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The concept of shared mobility has quickly gained grounds in India&rsquo;s urban and semi-urban regions with more and more people opting for it to make the last mile connectivity. In a scenario where the urban crowd hardly covers more than 60 kms in a day and travel at an average speed of not more than 40 kph, a short-range electric vehicle, not only seems financially viable, but also beneficial for the environment. Couple this with low maintenance two-wheelers and the prospect of owning an electric scooter for the short trips inside the city makes much more sense.</strong></p>
<p>This is exactly the spark that hit Dr Irfan Khan in 2014 when he came up with the idea of eBikeGo in 2017 while working for the NGO &lsquo;Swachh Dalhousie&rsquo;. They established, what is claimed to be, India&rsquo;s first-ever electric bike rental platform in 2017 and started operations in 2018 in Amritsar. He deduced that the cost of running an electric scooter is as low as Rs 20 paisa/km for an average speed of 55 kph and thus he formulated a revenue model where he rented out electric two-wheelers for a minimum of Rs 20 for 30 minutes.</p>
<p>This self-funded company is majorly into the B2B segment wherein, it helps the logistics and food delivery companies to convert their fleet into electric by providing them with electric scooters on rent. Companies like Zomato, Ferns N Petals, Vpledge, Delhivery Pilot and goStops have rented out electric scooters from eBikeGo for Rs 3000 per month. It also has the traditional B2C revenue scheme where customers could book a scooter through their website or through their mobile application.</p>
<p><img alt="Hari Kiran" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Hari%20Kiran.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Hari Kiran"></p>
<p>In an interaction with <em>Autocar Professional</em>, P Hari Kiran, project head, eBikeGo (Pictured above), said, &ldquo;The major issues faced by EVs in India is the lack of public charging stations. The steps taken by the Delhi government has proved to be beneficial for the popularity of electric mobility. We hope that even the central government takes similar steps across the country. The subsidies, zero road tax and other government policies are really helping us to serve better. We, as the service providers, are planning to set up charging infrastructure for every 2 km.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Promoting the idea of battery swapping, eBikeGo acknowledges the main hurdle for the system, which is standardisation. Speaking on the promise that the technology provides for the popularity of electric vehicles in India, Hari says, &ldquo;The standardisation would take time and right now it is better for fleet operations to get this stations as they would be using the same fleet of scooters in a huge number and it would be advantageous to customers only when it becomes standardised. This way, every OEM should be able to convert into this.&rdquo; eBikeGo is currently in talks with a number of players for the swapping stations and&nbsp;are looking to increase the number through the eBikeGo Energy network which is a network of battery swapping stations at CNG, gas stations, petrol pumps, parking lots, malls, convenience stores and similar other points.</p>
<p><img alt="EbikeGo used by Zomato" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/1_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 959px; height: 1280px;" title="EbikeGo used by Zomato"></p>
<p><em>Zomato, the food delivery portal, prefers to opt for the electric scooters from eBikeGo</em></p>
<p>Apparently, this model would also work for four-wheelers if Ola and Uber adopt EVs from one or more OEMs and partner with certain battery swapping solution providers to make the technology accessible on a large scale. This mutual collaboration among different entities for creating a metropolitan ecosystem with better connectivity, easier access to energy and a more enjoyable urban living experience could pave a path for the standardisation of the batteries and the modules.</p>
<p>Hari claims that some of the EV OEMs in India have benefitted from the government&rsquo;s EV policies, especially the FAME II scheme. He is confident that most of the well-established players are as novice in this segment as the new entrants and hence the electric bike rental platform currently has no market dominance from any company.</p>
<p><img alt="UrDa and eBikeGo tie up" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/UrDA%20Tie-up1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="UrDa and eBikeGo tie up"></p>
<p><em>eBikeGo has tied up with UrDa Mobility, a leading Taiwanese electric scooter shared mobility platform with Ahamani e-scooters</em></p>
<p>Currently, eBikeGo does not manufacture its own scooters although they have hinted to us about their plans for it. So, for the time being, it buys e-scooters from the Indian OEMs and incorporates them into its fleet. They have started their endeavour with Okinawa scooters&rsquo; Ridge+ e-scooter that comes with the environment-friendly lithium-ion batteries. They have also laid plans to partner with Revolt and Dexpress electric scooters and the latest entry into their portfolio is the Taiwan-based Ahamani e-scooters that marks the entry of UrDa mobility in India. eBikeGo has incorporated GPS, Geo fencing and many other features into their scooters. They have a core team of 38 employees, including the 20 ground staffs that are involved in the servicing of the e-scooters. They have 4 franchise partners in 4 different locations and are aspiring to partner with 100 more in the coming 3 years.</p>
<p>On increasing the penetration of electric vehicles in India, Hari says, &ldquo;Subsidising the vehicles is a very good sign for higher adoption provided that the infrastructure is kept available in each and every city for people to access along with the quality of the scooters which is evolving and the price range which should be competitive to the petrol two wheelers. Increase in demand in the Indian market for shared mobility along with the increasing pollution levels has motivated players like UrDa to announce the launch of 100,000 e-scooters in India. This is also the reason why we are confident about deploying motorcycles from Revolt in our fleet.&rdquo;</p>
<p>eBikeGo is currently operational in 5 cities with more than 200 bikes and is serving more than 1000 customers every month.</p>
<![CDATA[​Increase in demand in the Indian market for shared mobility along with the increasing pollution levels has inspired many players to enter the bike rental platform in India]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/2c68fb31-23a6-4cce-ada9-2cf53bbfdb7b.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/2c68fb31-23a6-4cce-ada9-2cf53bbfdb7b.JPG&h=485&w=73543693https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/how-electric-bike-rental-companies-could-popularise-battery-swapping-in-india-43693
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/how-electric-bike-rental-companies-could-popularise-battery-swapping-in-india-43693Wed, 31 Jul 2019 14:37:00Moving from Make in India to Innovate in India<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/79b0d250-dda0-4d11-a19a-6e73b6c466ed.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Many of the developed countries in the world are strutting ahead because of the innovations they export and not just the innovative products. This is evident if we glance at the World Intellectual property indicators where the US and China are leading. If India is aiming to become a $5 trillion (Rs 34,430,250 crore/ Rs 3.4 crore crore) economy, then the focus has to shift from Make in India to Innovate in India.</strong></p>
<p>On the automotive front, connected mobility, autonomous cars, shared mobility, and electric mobility have become major disruptors globally. India needs to fill in a lot of gaps in the policy framework, infrastructure and resource management to establish a proper ecosystem for these disruptors. The start-ups, MSMEs and the established players need to stand in unison in order to accelerate the entire process. Experts in India have voiced their concern&nbsp;for developing test cases for intelligent vehicles in India, for India.</p>
<p><img alt="Ansys-ARAI CoE" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_2083%20.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Ansys-ARAI CoE"></p>
<p><em>The signing of the MoU between ARAI and ANSYS for the Centre of Excellence at the ARAI campus. The CoE aims to make India&#39;s transportation system efficient and safe</em></p>
<p>The EV landscape is one area where India can be a pioneer for some in-house solutions and technologies and develop their own IPs. There are a lot of CoEs (Centre of Excellence) coming up across the country that is aimed at skilling India. One such CoE has been set up by ANSYS and ARAI at the ARAI centre in Pune. In an age where Denso and NXP Semiconductors are working on autonomous cars at their development centres in India, this CoE is working with some of the top academia including IITs to develop curriculums for EVs, ADAS and autonomous technology.</p>
<p>Rashmi Urdhwarashe, director of Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), speaking at the inauguration of the new CoE with ANSYS, said, &ldquo;In the first year of the CoE, we plan to make our own experts in the field of autonomous and electric mobility with the help of the technology, hardware, IP and the training provided by the experts from Ansys. We chose ANSYS as our partner because of its experience with all the ADAS and EV component manufacturers across the globe. ARAI is already in possession of the technology that is matured enough to demonstrate Level 2 autonomy.&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;On the EV front, since the government is already taking the necessary initiatives for developing the charging infrastructure, we could see some major developments in the coming future. We are glad to see many Indian companies coming up with their own battery management systems which would prove quite critical for India&rsquo;s EV story. We are also working on alternate battery chemistry and materials that would go into the cells. ARAI is also working on the recyclability of the material. Through our collaboration with ISRO, we are also working on battery sizing using the supercapacitors coupled with batteries,&rdquo; she added</p>
<p>Speaking further on technology megatrends, Urdhwarashe said, &ldquo;Societal acceptance of innovations such as the autonomous technology is what we plan to work on initially. This would help us to build on the used cases, simulating them and then working towards introducing the products.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Due to the exposure&nbsp;that research institutes like ARAI get from such CoEs, the government regularly consults&nbsp; them during the framing of new policies such as the EV policies.</p>
<p>Rafiq Somani, area vice-president - India and South Asia Pacific at ANSYS said, &ldquo;From the time when we were just a mechanical simulation company, we have come a long way in these 40 years due to our clients and partnerships with automotive, defence and research bodies like ARAI. It is because of these partnerships that these technologies get incubated and is made available as a commercial product for everybody. ANSYS has invested in 5G, electric EV, ADAS, digital twin technology and additive manufacturing.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="The simulations being demonstrated at the CoE in the ARAI campus" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/IMG_2107.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="The simulations being demonstrated at the CoE in the ARAI campus"></p>
<p><em>Simulation systems being demonstrated at the CoE in the ARAI campus in Pune.</em></p>
<p>The CoE at the ARAI centre in Pune will see research developments on the thermal management of lithium-ion battery pack for EVs, vehicle and systems integration for xEV technology demonstrator (2- &amp; 3-wheelers, passenger cars, LCVs and others), evaluation of converted electric/hybrid electric vehicle using computer simulation, hybrid P3 retro-fitment solution for LCV-MT, backward and forward simulation for sizing and performance evaluation for xEV powertrain, autonomous vehicle development platform, EV-BMS, hybrid technology platform for 2 &amp; 3 wheel vehicles, intelligent vehicle controller platform for the EVs. The CoE is promoting new innovations in electric mobility and advanced safety systems which would enable the industry with new innovations and skilled manpower.</p>
<p>Speaking on the adoption of the technologies for India, Somani says, &ldquo;India can be an early adopter of the autonomous technologies but for cities, it would be difficult. In the EV front, this CoE will also help to develop some local EV batteries and hopefully with government incentives the prices of the EV batteries will come down drastically. We are working with some of the top academia to develop 5G. We are also looking to further leverage our collaboration with Bosch, SAP and PTC.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Somani further opened up about the skill development initiatives from&nbsp;ANSYS: &ldquo;There is an increased level of localisation in BS VI, infotainment and similar other things. However, these things are simply parts from China, assembled in India. India needs to innovate more, rather than just assembling the final product. This is why we have tied up with many of the academia which have their own incubation centres and a lot of in-house startup companies. This also allows us to take&nbsp;the help of the faculties there. A new trend that we have observed here is the enthusiasm from the next-gen suppliers who don&rsquo;t just want to serve locally but globally. India has the manpower and the competencies, it is the intent of the centres like these to promote them and develop them on a global scale.&rdquo;</p>
<p>ANSYS is working with Tier 1 suppliers to set up the ecosystem for EV and ADAS in India. ARAI, on the other hand, is also stressing on the safety aspects in the current transportation system. The CoE is also developing technologies that would aid the government in developing strategies towards achieving Vision Zero - no person should die on Indian roads. The centre is also working on a scientific action plan for specific cities that would improve the ambient air quality. The CoE will leverage its resources to innovate solutions and better the transportation system of India.</p>
<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/spark-minda--ansys-inaugurate-joint-coe-at-smtc--pune-43627"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Spark Minda, Ansys inaugurate joint CoE at SMTC, Pune</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[Industry and academia collaboration is on the upswing in India. The recent one between ARAI and ANSYS, which aims to improve the transportation ecosystem, is a cue to similar partnerships in the future.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/79b0d250-dda0-4d11-a19a-6e73b6c466ed.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/79b0d250-dda0-4d11-a19a-6e73b6c466ed.jpg&h=485&w=73543691https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/moving-from-make-in-india-to-innovate-in-india-43691
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/moving-from-make-in-india-to-innovate-in-india-43691Wed, 31 Jul 2019 13:56:00Tech talk: How manufacturers are preserving pistons<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/4f1b75e0-9cbe-489c-b78b-5eeb65f8db8b.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>&ldquo;Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,&rdquo; said Mark Twain after an erroneously posted obituary. It&rsquo;s pretty much what every internal combustion engine would say, too, if they could speak. While hysteria over the car&rsquo;s contribution to emissions reaches epic proportions, engineers everywhere are working hard to improve internal combustion engines (ICEs) to drive toxic and CO2 emissions down.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/sitesearch/search/hyundai?search=hyundai"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Hyundai&nbsp;</span></a>Motor Group&rsquo;s <strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/hyundai%E2%80%99s-new-cvvd-tech-improves-performance--efficiency-and-slashes-emissions-43423"><span style="color:#0000FF;">new CVVD (continuously variable valve duration) technology</span></a></strong> is the latest ICE development to break cover. It&rsquo;s another example of how new engineering techniques are enabling engineers to revisit the engine fundamentals to leap technical barriers that were once insurmountable. CVVD on the new Smartstream G1.6 T-GDi engine, to be fitted to both Hyundai and&nbsp;Kia&nbsp;cars, improves performance by 4 percent, fuel efficiency by 5 percent&nbsp;and emissions by 12 percent.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Inlet and exhaust valves in the cylinder head of an engine let fuel and air in and exhaust out. When they open and close and by how much depends on what an engine is designed to do. Valves are opened by cams, offset lobes positioned along a camshaft, one for each valve. So a four-cylinder four-valves-per-cylinder twin-cam engine would have an exhaust cam and an inlet cam, each with eight cam lobes, one for each valve.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The shape of the cams is designed to control the lift and the duration (length of time they stay open). How progressively they open and close and at what speed is down to the shape of the cam. In engine tuning, there are lots of different camshafts to choose from to give the characteristics the engine builder wants. The design for a normal, tractable family car engine at one end of the scale will be totally different from the &lsquo;hot cam&rsquo; of a race engine at the other.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Clever tech such as&nbsp;BMW&rsquo;s Vanos varies the valve timing (when the valves begin to open and in relation to the position of the piston and moment of combustion). A second system, Valvetronic, can alter valve lift. Used together, both timing and lift are variable. The ingenious Multiair system, developed by&nbsp;Fiat&nbsp;Powertrain Technologies with the Schaeffler Group, can vary both timing and lift with some cunning electro-hydraulics.&nbsp;Jaguar&nbsp;Land Rover&nbsp;also uses a version of the Schaeffler tech on its Ingenium petrol engine.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Honda&rsquo;s famous VTEC cam-switching system&nbsp;is devilishly clever but simple by comparison. It has two cam lobes per valve arranged in pairs on the camshaft. The engine can select a softer, more tractable profile at lower engine speeds and switches to the hotter profile to get more gas in and out at higher revs for maximum power.&nbsp;</p>
<p>CVVD works on the inlet valves (but can be applied to the exhaust valves, too) by moving the centre line of the camshaft slightly from side to side, altering the position of cam lobes on the valves. CVVD is yet another step forward in the history of the ICE, and although most bases in terms of engine breathing have probably been covered now, don&rsquo;t be surprised if engineers find some more tweaks to improve efficiency still further over the next few years.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/16/2.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 487px;" title=""></p>
<p>Fiat&rsquo;s Multiair system can control lift and, to a lesser extent, timing but not duration. Instead of acting directly on the top of the valves, the cams operate tiny oil pumps in the cylinder head, generating hydraulic pressure to open the valves. Electronically controlled bleed valves can release pressure to alter how much the valves open and make them open later or close sooner.</p>
<p><strong>Also read:<strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">&nbsp;</span></strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-hydrogen-could-be-an-easy-cell-43614"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why hydrogen could be an easy cell</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk--hybridising-combustion-engines-with-the-biscuit-tin-motor-42903"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Hybridising combustion engines with the &#39;biscuit tin&#39; motor</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-aluminium-chassis-makes-good-sense-for-evs-43108"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why aluminium chassis makes good sense for EVs</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-volkswagen-dsg-gearbox-predicted-the-future-42971"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech Talk: How Volkswagen&#39;s DSG gearbox predicted the future?</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-electric-motor-that-drives-an-ev-42845"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: The electric motor that drives an EV</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[Hyundai and Kia have unveiled an innovative new petrol engine design, and they're not the only firms committed to saving internal combustion.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/4f1b75e0-9cbe-489c-b78b-5eeb65f8db8b.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/4f1b75e0-9cbe-489c-b78b-5eeb65f8db8b.jpg&h=485&w=73543660https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-manufacturers-are-preserving-pistons-43660
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-manufacturers-are-preserving-pistons-43660Mon, 29 Jul 2019 11:48:00Tech talk: Why hydrogen could be an easy cell<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/968518f0-26ed-4e64-8cd3-8b2d2fad3f6a.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Twenty years ago, DaimlerChrysler, as the two merged companies were called then, launched the&nbsp;A-Class-based Necar 4, the first production-ready fuel cell vehicle capable of being driven on public roads. The plan was for the first commercial version, dubbed, &lsquo;Necar X&rsquo; to be launched on public sale in 2004.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>By that time, DaimlerChrysler said it would have spent over &pound;1.1 billion on fuel cell vehicle development: it was that big and looked that certain. The board member responsible for R&amp;D, Klaus-Dieter Vöhringer, said back then: &ldquo;From 2004 to 2010, the population of fuel cell vehicles has to increase very fast otherwise the [refuelling] infrastructure will not grow.&rdquo; He was dead right in one sense: it didn&rsquo;t grow and fuel cell cars haven&rsquo;t taken to the roads in large numbers. Yet.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Some would say hydrogen fuel cells are the holy grail of sustainable propulsion because they emit nothing except water and heat from the tailpipe. So long as the hydrogen fuel they consume is produced sustainably, it&rsquo;s an environmental free lunch with refuelling pretty much as easy and fast as it is with petrol or diesel. In common with a battery, a fuel cell &lsquo;stack&rsquo; consists of hundreds of individual cells producing a little over one volt each.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The favoured technology for cars and transport is the polymer exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. A fine polymer membrane sandwiched between a platinum cathode and anode and two flow plates in a kind of double-decker sandwich make up each cell. Hydrogen travels through the flow plates on the anode side while air is pumped through the cathode side as a source of oxygen. Hydrogen protons are attracted through the membrane to the oxygen, making water, leaving the hydrogen electrons behind, forming a current in an external circuit.&nbsp;</p>
<p>There have been lots of technical hurdles to overcome &ndash; including scavenging residual water from inside the cells, which would freeze at low temperatures, starting the stack in sub-zero temperatures, economic manufacture and robustness &ndash; but today fuel cell systems are advanced, if still pricey. An entire fuel cell system consists of a stack, a carbonfibre tank capable of storing hydrogen at 750 bar and a small lithium ion battery to deliver both the fast surge of power needed for acceleration and to store energy from regenerative braking. Tough hydrogen tanks split and release hydrogen rather than exploding if damaged and, in that sense, the world&rsquo;s most plentiful element is safer than petrol. The rest of the powertrain is like that of any other electric car, with an electric motor and power control module to manage it all.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s also 20 years since the formation of the California Fuel Cell Partnership, one of the world&rsquo;s largest institutions pushing the development of fuel cell technology. With its 2030 Vision programme, it aims to get 1,000,000 fuel cell vehicles on California roads along with 1000 hydrogen filling stations by 2030. Maybe then, the fuel cell ball will really start rolling.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">New train of thought</span></strong><br>
<br>
<img alt="" height="596" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/adobe_photoshop_cc_2018147167059174897.jpg?itok=rGZYoNAC" width="900"></p>
<p>Hydrogen fuel cells are ideal for large vehicles as well as cars. Two Coradia iLint fuel cell trains from French firm Alstom have been running in Germany since 2018 and 27 more have been ordered by a transport authority. A Hydroflex train masterminded by the University of Birmingham and train maker Porterbrook began UK trials in June.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/under-skin-why-hydrogen-could-be-easy-cell"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Source</span></a></em></p>
<p>Also read:&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk--hybridising-combustion-engines-with-the-biscuit-tin-motor-42903"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Hybridising combustion engines with the &#39;biscuit tin&#39; motor</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-aluminium-chassis-makes-good-sense-for-evs-43108"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: Why aluminium chassis makes good sense for EVs</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-volkswagen-dsg-gearbox-predicted-the-future-42971"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech Talk: How Volkswagen&#39;s DSG gearbox predicted the future?</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-the-electric-motor-that-drives-an-ev-42845"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tech talk: The electric motor that drives an EV</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[Less wasteful than a petrol or diesel car, easier to use than an EV - is now the time to stop dismissing hydrogen as a load of hot air?]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/968518f0-26ed-4e64-8cd3-8b2d2fad3f6a.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/968518f0-26ed-4e64-8cd3-8b2d2fad3f6a.jpg&h=485&w=73543614https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-hydrogen-could-be-an-easy-cell-43614
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-why-hydrogen-could-be-an-easy-cell-43614Tue, 23 Jul 2019 09:50:00Geely's rise from obscurity to the top<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/758467be-6df3-485b-83a8-380da081ec0a.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Few car manufacturers have risen so far in such a short space of time as Geely. The Chinese brand&rsquo;s name can be translated from Mandarin as &lsquo;auspicious&rsquo; and &lsquo;lucky&rsquo;. Both are entirely appropriate terms for a company founded as recently as 1986 that is now breathing down the necks of the world&rsquo;s top 10 carmakers.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>Its origins were understandably humble. China was a vastly different country in the early 1980s when founder Li Shufu graduated from university; a hard-line communist state where free enterprise was largely banned and the small number of cars were almost entirely imported. As late as 1985, China&rsquo;s domestic manufacturers produced just 5,200 cars, the entire market for passenger vehicles being around 100,000 a year.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Small beginnings</span></strong><br>
Li didn&rsquo;t start with cars. After making money by taking photographs for tourists, he established a small company in Zhejiang to make fridge parts, then complete units. Politics intervened: Geely missed out on a licence to sell fridges so diversified into motor scooters, quickly becoming one of China&rsquo;s biggest makers. But what he really wanted to do was build cars.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="509" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/32214_mr_li_shufu_chairman_zhejiang_geely_holding_group_company_ltd_-_press.jpg?itok=KESiynQj" width="900"></p>
<p>The first four-wheeled Geely was a strange beast. It was built in around 1995 and was clearly inspired by the&nbsp;contemporary round-headlight W210 Mercedes E-Class, featuring a near-identical front end but sitting on the far shorter wheelbase of the First Automobile Works-built Audi 100. It was a one-off creation using fibreglass, but it won Li attention and people wanted to order something similar. Soon afterwards he bought a majority stake in a small truck company (which had the all-important production licence) and launched the Geely HQ, a Daihatsu Charade copy wearing a very&nbsp;Mercedes-like radiator grille, in 1998.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Geely expanded rapidly as China&rsquo;s mobility revolution triggered a huge expansion in car ownership, but it was still a minnow compared with the country&rsquo;s larger car makers &ndash; in 2003, total production was just 76,274 units. While other manufacturers were expanding through joint ventures with overseas firms, bringing expertise and helping to produce cars that Chinese buyers wanted, Li vowed to grow Geely differently, saying such arrangements created complacency and stifled innovation.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Joining the world stage</span></strong><br>
The 2005&nbsp;Frankfurt motor show&nbsp;was packed with premieres that fought for attention, the list of debutants including the&nbsp;Audi Q7,&nbsp;Porsche Cayman S,&nbsp;Mercedes-Benz R-Class,&nbsp;five-cylinder Ford Focus ST&nbsp;and&nbsp;Volkswagen Eos. It also marked Geely&rsquo;s European debut, the company taking a small stand and introducing the little, lumpy CD coupe, surrounded by characters from the Beijing opera. This was just a year after Geely&rsquo;s annual production had broken through the 100,000 barrier and the company&rsquo;s products looked cheap and joyless to European eyes. (Build quality wasn&rsquo;t great at the time either; in 2008, JD Power ranked Geely 36th and last among Chinese brands.)&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="675" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/geeley_cd_coupe.jpg?itok=NmCXFqtZ" width="900"></p>
<p>But being the first independent Chinese carmaker to attend an overseas show played well at home, making Geely look like more than just the regional manufacturer it pretty much was at the time. It was a lesson echoed in the later decision to launch the deliberately European Lynk&amp;Co brand in China first. The company&rsquo;s international outlook was growing, and it formed a joint venture with Manganese Bronze, then owners of the LTI taxi company, to make cars in Shanghai.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">The big league</span></strong><br>
Outside China, only keen motor industry watchers were likely to have heard of Geely before late 2009. That changed when the company admitted it was in negotiations with Ford to buy Volvo. The sale concluded the following year, with parent company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group taking control. This means that&nbsp;Volvo&nbsp;Car Group is on the same level as Geely Auto within the corporate hierarchy, not subsidiary to it.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Despite recession-hit&nbsp;Ford&rsquo;s enthusiasm to offload Volvo, Li had to work hard to be taken seriously as a bidder. Geely generated barely a sixth of Volvo&rsquo;s revenue at the time, but it had major backing from Chinese banks and managed to land the Swedish marque for $1.8 billion (Rs 12,333 crore), barely a quarter of what Ford had paid for it 11 years earlier.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="597" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/32205_signing_of_the_stock_purchase_agreement_march_28_2010.jpg?itok=SDNoODQJ" width="900"></p>
<p>Few industry watchers understood the logic behind the deal. Automotive mergers are normally between companies with significant overlap looking to reduce costs. Geely and Volvo had almost nothing obvious in common, and many predicted that attempts to merge operations would be disastrous. But Li didn&rsquo;t want a merger, promising at the time that &ldquo;Volvo is Volvo and Geely is Geely&rdquo;. As it soon became clear, Geely had effectively purchased a hugely experienced European brand to become its own joint venture partner.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Swedish powerhouse&nbsp;</span></strong><br>
Geely&rsquo;s gamble on Volvo would only work if the Swedish company&rsquo;s fading fortunes could be turned around. The brand&rsquo;s sales were sliding and it had been starved of investment during the last years of Ford ownership. A Volvo engineer admitted later that if a light bulb failed during this period in the Torslanda HQ, it was easier to move to one of the many empty desks than to get it replaced. The first task was to break away from shared Ford engines and architectures.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Volvo got access to much-needed funds, with loans totalling $2bn (Rs 13,706 crore) from the China Development Bank, but&nbsp;new CEO Hakan Samuelsson was also left to work with minimal interference. Volvo took the decision to develop a single, flexible platform &ndash; Scalable Product Architecture &ndash; to underpin replacements for all of the company&rsquo;s 60, 70, 80 and 90 series products. It also opted to dramatically reduce powertrain complexity by getting rid of larger engines and using a new family of three- and four-cylinder units, with performance added through hybridisation. Sales had already started to rebound before the first SPA model,&nbsp;the new XC90, was launched in 2014. By last year, they were close to doubling 2009 sales, with much of the growth coming from China on the back of local production.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="600" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/dsc_4444.jpg?itok=S9lum21p" width="900"></p>
<p>But SPA was too grand and expensive to underpin Geely models, leading to the establishment in 2013 of China Euro Vehicle Technology, a joint venture between Geely Auto and Volvo that has engineered the Compact Modular Architecture underpinning smaller Volvos &ndash; as well as those from what was meant to be Geely&rsquo;s funky new subsidiary&hellip;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Building success</span></strong><br>
While Geely has been exporting since 2003 and sells cars in many parts of the world, including Russia, the Middle East and South America, it hadn&rsquo;t cracked the EU or North America, or created a product that seemed capable of doing so.&nbsp;The arrival of CMA&nbsp;would allow Geely to create premium-feeling models, but it decided to launch a new brand to get them taken seriously.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Lynk&amp;Co was the result, an international mix with headquarters in Gothenburg and marketing in China that played big on the European connection, but with local assembly allowing for some extremely attractive pricing. Lynk&amp;Co will come to Europe and the US, where the plan is to offer a subscription leasing scheme and a range that will be entirely plug-in hybrid or EV. But in China it is much more traditional, with early cars only being available with conventional engines and being sold through retailers. It has been a success, with 120,414 sales in China last year helping to take Geely Auto through the 1.5 million barrier. Including Volvo and the Yuan Cheng commercial models, the group produced 2.15 million vehicles last year. Globally, Geely Group is now the world&rsquo;s 13th-biggest car manufacturer, between&nbsp;BMW&nbsp;and&nbsp;Mazda.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="511" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/geometry-a-launch-02x.jpg?itok=s-VZeYLG" width="900"></p>
<p>Earlier this year, Geely launched another new sub-brand in China. Branded Geometry, it will offer a range of accessibly priced EVs, with&nbsp;the first of these &ndash; the Model A &ndash; already on sale&nbsp;and priced from the equivalent of &pound;24,000 (Rs 20 lakh) before subsidies.&nbsp;<em>Autocar UK</em> drove the car just before its official unveiling at the Shanghai motor show&nbsp;in March and, despite finding it short on thrills, were impressed by its finish and quality. A wider range of Geometry products are coming, and European sales are part of the plan.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Buying success</span></strong><br>
The other side of Geely&rsquo;s growth strategy has been a dramatic series of expansions beyond the Volvo purchase. Geely bought a minority stake in taxi maker LTI in 2009, but then took control of most of its assets and production when it went into administration in 2012. The new company was rebranded the London Electric Vehicle Company with the&nbsp;range-extended electric LEVC TX cab&nbsp;launched in 2017 and plans to use this platform&nbsp;as the basis for a host of other models.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="600" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/lotus_0.jpg?itok=pv2ybl6g" width="900"></p>
<p>Then, two years ago, Geely moved to purchase a 49 percent stake in Malaysian maker Proton, and a majority 51 percent in its Lotus subsidiary. The strategic logic behind the Proton move was obvious, giving Geely access to the heavily protected Malaysian market but also extra capacity for right-hand drive production. Lotus seemed like a less obvious target given the brand&rsquo;s minimal sales, but it soon became clear that &ndash; as with Volvo &ndash; Geely was planning to give its new subsidiary both investment and a large measure of independence.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Geely also built an investment in Daimler, ending up with a stake of 9.69 percent &ndash; enough to trigger concern in the German press about what the Chinese company wanted in exchange for its cash. A full-scale technical alliance hasn&rsquo;t happened &ndash; at least, not yet &ndash; but in March it was announced that&nbsp;Geely had taken a 50 percent stake in Smart&nbsp;with plans to produce a new generation of entirely electric models in China.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The current Geely GE saloon introduced a new radiator design for the brand with a series of concentric rings known as the &lsquo;expanding cosmos&rsquo; treatment. Design director Peter Horbury admits it was inspired directly from a conversation with Li himself. Given Geely&rsquo;s dramatic growth in the two decades since it started making cars, it seems unlikely that Geely&rsquo;s universe will stop expanding any time soon.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">The future</span></strong><br>
Ambition has been Geely&rsquo;s defining characteristic since it was founded. <em>Autocar UK </em>was among a small group of journalists who interviewed Geely Auto CEO (and Geely Group president) An Conghui at this year&rsquo;s&nbsp;Shanghai motor show, where he made it clear that the company still sees plenty more opportunity for growth.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="600" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/lynkco_storeschina_2019_4.jpg?itok=cGVl9Hgn" width="900"></p>
<p>&ldquo;Geely&rsquo;s ambition is to become a world-class and globally competitive OEM and also OEM group,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We are doing this from both sides, working on our own and also realising this through collaboration with partners.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The official plan is to grow the current brands rather than acquire new ones &ndash; &ldquo;we will work on cultivating our own,&rdquo; said An &ndash; but, based on previous form, we wouldn&rsquo;t be too surprised to find Geely expanding further if the right offer came along.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, An sees electrification as both a technical challenge and an opportunity. He confirmed that Geometry models will ultimately be offered around the world &ndash; &ldquo;We aimed it to be a global brand offering global products, to private car owners but also mobility providers&rdquo; &ndash; and also that Tesla was both an inspiration and a target. It&rsquo;s a broad hint that we can expect to see more powerful and expensive Geometry models overlapping with the lower reaches of the&nbsp;Tesla&nbsp;hierarchy.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Like many big makers, Geely Group is developing a pure electric platform called PMA &ndash; developed from CMA &ndash; which will be used to underpin Geometry, Lynk&amp;Co, Volvo and possibly even&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-reviews/lotus">Lotus models</a>. While An said that some battery cell development is being done internally, largely for the brand&rsquo;s commercial models, most batteries will come from the market, which Chinese suppliers are already leading. &ldquo;On Geometry, the battery cells come from CATL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have already entered a joint venture with them. Going forward, the main part of our cells will be acquired through this kind of collaboration.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="596" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/149309_the_all-new_volvo_xc90_-_scalable_product_architecture_with_text.jpg?itok=5iKZpTsN" width="900"></p>
<p>An politely refused <em>Autocar UK</em>&nbsp;when asked to put numbers on Geely&rsquo;s long-term aims. Company insiders say the senior leadership are inspired by Toyota, but also the rapid growth of&nbsp;Hyundai-Kia. We would be surprised if the company doesn&rsquo;t break into the global top 10 of car makers relatively soon, although An remains modest.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Globally, Geely is still a small OEM group,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We look at the other OEMs in the world and find that each one has good aspects that merit learning from. We will continue doing the benchmarking we do, and we will continue to learn from the best practices of these other OEMs.&rsquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Lynk&amp;Co goes motor racing</span></strong><br>
Manufacturers using motorsport as a showcase for its wares is a concept as old as the car itself. But it&rsquo;s not often a brand goes motor racing before its models are available to the public,&nbsp;as Geely has with Lynk&amp;Co.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="450" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/lynk_n_co_tcr.jpg?itok=73SFNHlN" width="900"></p>
<p>The programme to run a four-car super-team in the FIA World Touring Car Cup has meant&nbsp;Lynk&amp;Co&rsquo;s 03 TCR saloon, which is already on sale in China, has become familiar to European motorsport fans long before it will be seen on the Western roads. Swedish-based Cyan Racing, which previously ran&nbsp;Volvo&rsquo;s Polestar S60&nbsp;entries in the old World Touring Car Championship, runs the programme in a series that races in Europe for the first half of the season, then switches to Asia for rounds in China, Japan, Macau and Malaysia.&nbsp;</p>
<p>So far, it&rsquo;s going pretty well &ndash; hardly a surprise given Cyan&rsquo;s reputation and the quality of the drivers: the line-up includes three who share eight WTCC titles between them. After five triple-race weekends, Sweden&rsquo;s Thed Bjork is third in the WTCR points having already notched up three wins. Damien Smith</p>
<p><strong>There&rsquo;s also a flying car&hellip;</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" height="596" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/terrafugia_tf2.jpg?itok=TVOJa5xN" width="900"></p>
<p>In addition to Geely Auto and Volvo Car Group, Zhejiang Geely has three other divisions. Mitime Group runs three universities in China and has built various sports facilities, including race circuits; Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group contains both LEVC and the Yuan Cheng commercial vehicle division; and Geely Technology Group includes Quanjiang motorcycles, the Uber-ish CaoCao ride-sharing app &ndash; and Terrafugia, the flying car start-up that Geely took control of in 2017. Projects include the TF-2, which uses a passenger cabin that transfers between a road vehicle and an autonomous aircraft.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">The transformation of Lotus</span></strong><br>
When Geely bought its stake in Proton from DRB-Hicom, Lotus seemed to be a much smaller part of the deal. But Geely insiders confirm that Lotus was seen as hugely attractive, both because of its history but also its engineering expertise.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="596" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/lotus_1.jpg?itok=MKhUHa0M" width="900"></p>
<p>Group Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng confirms the brand will be used to develop and use pioneering technology before it appears elsewhere in the Geely family.&nbsp;That&rsquo;s one reason why the forthcoming Type 130 electric hypercar&nbsp;will have significantly more performance than&nbsp;Volvo&rsquo;s Polestar 1. Lotus engineering will be used to help develop new models, the first of which&nbsp;will include a heavily revised Evora, but also be available to the rest of the group.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The new engineering and design centre near Coventry will be mostly used for work on forthcoming Lotus models, including at least one SUV. &ldquo;The Geely Holding Group is already reaping some initial benefit from Lotus engineering in terms of lightweight structure, aerodynamics and driving dynamics,&rdquo; Feng told <em>Autocar UK</em> in Shanghai. &ldquo;We already see value, but this is still the early phase &ndash; there is more to come.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/year-underdog-geelys-rise-obscurity-top"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Source</span></a></em></p>
<![CDATA[How the Chinese company has become one of the world’s biggest car makers.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Passenger Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/758467be-6df3-485b-83a8-380da081ec0a.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/758467be-6df3-485b-83a8-380da081ec0a.jpg&h=485&w=73543522https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/geely-rise-from-obscurity-to-the-top-43522
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/geely-rise-from-obscurity-to-the-top-43522Mon, 15 Jul 2019 15:10:00The future of the UK's top design college in this age of disruption<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/6b23949b-765f-447f-aa21-c5a34d7d466c.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The car industry is at a once-in-a-generation crossroads thanks to autonomous driving, electric powertrains and car sharing all battling to shake up the century-old industry. Imagine the challenges facing car designers.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>In such a context, perhaps it&rsquo;s no surprise the world-renowned car design course at the Royal College of Art (RCA) is changing fundamentally.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In March, the first intake of students to graduate from the new &lsquo;Intelligent Mobility&rsquo; course displayed their final-year design projects. Among the 21 projects, there were a handful of swooping dream cars, but the bulk of designs were far from conventional. Instead, there were autonomous pods inspired by art installations, an electric supercar designed to dart through&nbsp;Elon Musk&rsquo;s Hyperloop tunnels, an amphibious machine to cope with global warming floods and a future&nbsp;Bentley car interior&nbsp;shaped around a relaxation sound system.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="601" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/luc_1723.jpg?itok=cAFnIsJr" width="900"></p>
<p>&ldquo;Our job is twofold,&rdquo; says Professor Dale Harrow, director of the Intelligent Mobility Design programme. &ldquo;To give the students the kind of vocational skills to practise in the work environment, but secondly to balance that by testing students with things they will meet in the future. Things like sustainability, electric cars, autonomous driving,&nbsp;screen-based user interfaces&nbsp;and the move to a service-based ownership model. These are all challenges the students now have to prepare for.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Harrow has been a lecturer in car design at the RCA for two decades, including five years recently as dean of the design school with fashion, research and textiles responsibility. Now he&rsquo;s returned to his main passion of designing cars, putting the course back on a solid footing with a more healthy balance of funding and creativity, after a few wobbles mid-decade.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Reflecting the new direction are staff drawn from a wider context than car makers&rsquo; studios. Harrow&rsquo;s deputy director is Cyril Diels, whose background includes work on driver behaviour and a bilious PhD in car sickness, while acting head of programme Dr Chris Thorpe has an MA in furniture design but is ex-Qinetiq, the defence contractor. Three permanent tutors bring studio experience from&nbsp;Ford,&nbsp;Mercedes,&nbsp;Opel,&nbsp;Volvo&nbsp;and&nbsp;VW.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="616" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/luc_1729.jpg?itok=6eQWbajn" width="900"></p>
<p>Today, the staff operate out of the same warren-like building in London&rsquo;s Kensington that the department has occupied for decades, but a significant expansion is coming in 2021/22 with a move to Battersea, where a new studio is being developed alongside existing RCA buildings. Symbolically, new premises will also coincide with a major new trend in car design as Harrow believes brand, which has pushed car design trends for at least 25 years, is losing its influence.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The brand personified by form and shape, visual language and identity, I believe, is on the wane,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The challenges are the next big stages in autonomy and issues like young people not buying cars.&rdquo; The RCA transformation has also been fostered by the heads of car maker design studios, who need new skills to maintain their own cutting edge. Many studio chiefs are ex-RCA and retain close links, through sponsoring students and supporting project work.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As design moves in a new direction, Harrow says there is special interest from studios for UX (user experience) interface designers, so there&rsquo;s a new focus on that discipline, taught by visiting lecturer Joe Simpson.</p>
<p><img alt="" height="601" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/luc_1699.jpg?itok=CKtZiy6d" width="900"></p>
<p>One of the aims is to equip designers with the technical knowledge of touchscreens and programming languages so they can work with engineers to make the best of the full-width cabin displays coming to the next generation of electric and autonomous cars. &ldquo;The danger is technologists push the designs and they end up being highly unusable and frustrating. Designers can demystify the use, just like Apple did in computing,&rdquo; says Thorpe.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Despite the change in focus, Intelligent Mobility remains a postgraduate degree, culminating in an MA, which means most of the students are in their early to mid-twenties. Courses average around 30 students.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But a significant change is a cut from 24 months&rsquo; study to 15, by reducing holidays. As a result, total costs are down, since students spend less on pricey London digs. For UK students, the fee is &pound;14,500 (Rs 12 lakh), while overseas students pay &pound;34,000 (Ra 29 lakh). The recent trend for the bulk of scholars to come from overseas continues, with China, Korea and India well represented. There&rsquo;s also growing interest from female students, who make up about 10 percent of the intake.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="601" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/luc_1666.jpg?itok=XMHizxJp" width="900"></p>
<p>Harrow and Thorpe are also nudging the course into a new, more socially aware direction in which cars are viewed in the context of their built environment and societal use. &ldquo;In the old days, you put design together with engineering and you got innovation. Dyson is an example of that: how to get a better vacuum cleaner,&rdquo; says Harrow. &ldquo;But now you need a social element because design sits between social and engineering. An example would be a successful design solution for London that&rsquo;s not the same as one for Paris.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>During the course, such new challenges are tackled in a number of month-long study modules, plus two mini-design projects, which in 2018 included a collaboration with Bentley called &lsquo;What will British luxury mean in 2050?&rsquo;, and an annual project in conjunction with the RAC Foundation, last year based on &lsquo;Ageless mobility&rsquo;.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Bentley coursework sparked several final-year project designs, including an interiors project called &lsquo;Luxury soundscapes&rsquo; by Irene Chiu that explored beneficial health and well-being effects of in-cabin acoustics in autonomous vehicles. &ldquo;That was a project away from the usual disciplines of exterior and interior car design and a good illustration of Intelligent Mobility,&rdquo; says Thorpe.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="601" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/luc_1508.jpg?itok=e96Qn52V" width="900"></p>
<p>The RCA HQ in Kensington, when visited by<em> Autocar UK</em> team, the studio is buzzing with industrious students sketching and rendering on screen, while the walls and shelves are festooned with design prints and scale models.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Remarkably, the RCA doesn&rsquo;t teach car rendering and sketching any more, partly because there are so many online &lsquo;how to&rsquo; videos that Harrow and Thorpe consider the discipline a fundamental that students have already grasped.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Reassuringly, most students still arrive at the RCA with a passion for cars, but the postgrad task is to open their minds to new disciplines. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to lose that emotional context and many come here with a strong sense of the car as a &lsquo;form&rsquo;. But it&rsquo;s making sure there&rsquo;s a bolt-on of the other things,&rdquo; says Thorpe.&nbsp;</p>
<p>A new motivation for the students is the emergence of tech companies moving into mobility, such as Google. This also creates competition for car makers to attract the best design talent. &ldquo;Students see Google and a big manufacturer like Ford in the same space and the opportunity to work at Google on mobility solutions instead of Ford is exciting for them,&rdquo; says Thorpe.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="601" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/luc_1474.jpg?itok=BJ4rh4wM" width="900"></p>
<p>Of course, many students still move to car makers on graduation, but there&rsquo;s an emerging trend to use project work to develop a commercial idea to be exploited themselves, supported by crowdfunding and encouraged by the success of startups in China and Silicon Valley.&nbsp;</p>
<p>That&rsquo;s quite a change from the days when a car designer&rsquo;s dream job lay in a car maker&rsquo;s design studio, starting out in the door handle department before progressing through a 30-year career in Coventry, Detroit or Wolfsburg. But the world is changing fast and the RCA&rsquo;s car design education is moving with it.</p>
<p><strong>Intelligent mobility: on the move</strong><br>
In just over two years, students of Intelligent Mobility will study in a brand-new &pound;108 million four-storey campus in Battersea, London, just a stone&rsquo;s throw from the River Thames.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="601" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/luc_1543.jpg?itok=wl8Ik5Iw" width="900"></p>
<p>Right now, the site is a hive of construction activity and looks nothing more than a complex hole in the ground, but RCA Intelligent Mobility director Dale Harrow and his deputy Cyril Diels can&rsquo;t wait to move into the purpose-built space, which is likely to treble the area they have for teaching and research. It is going to make a huge difference, they say.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Harrow is confident that Intelligent Mobility will occupy part of the ground floor where an open-plan, double-height volume will make possible the display of a full-sized car, something that could only be dreamed of at the enclosed current Kensington site.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" height="596" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/sidey_-_rca_battersea_hero_copy.jpg?itok=Agu62KfN" width="900"></p>
<p>Diels is already based in Battersea, at the RCA&rsquo;s second site, which opened in the mid-1990s and now houses the Intelligent Mobility Design Centre, where it runs PhD courses, and the Hyundai Kia Innovation Laboratory, a think-tank for future mobility, which opened in 2016. Harrow hopes to attract three or more car makers to open design labs once the new building is complete. Jewellery, ceramics and glass design are also run out of Battersea in the James Dyson Building.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The new brick-and-glass-facaded campus is designed by Herzog &amp; de Meuron and will offer 15,500 square metres of space, enough to launch 10 new courses. Planning permission was granted in early 2018 and, if all goes to plan, it will open in autumn 2021.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/how-uks-top-car-design-college-readying-new-era-cars"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Source</span></a></em></p>
<![CDATA[The next generation of car designers will need a fresh skill set. The Royal College of Art is already on the case
]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/6b23949b-765f-447f-aa21-c5a34d7d466c.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/6b23949b-765f-447f-aa21-c5a34d7d466c.jpg&h=485&w=73543469https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/the-future-of-the-uk-top-design-college-in-this-age-of-disruption-43469
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/the-future-of-the-uk-top-design-college-in-this-age-of-disruption-43469Tue, 09 Jul 2019 11:05:00Industry 4.0 and the mantra of smart manufacturing<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/8da2517e-4369-4374-8008-f62665bd78c3.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>How can manufacturing operations be optimised? How can personnel efficiencies be enhanced? How can collaborative systems respond in real time to meet fast-changing customer demands and industry trends. The mantra is Industry 4.0 or Smart Manufacturing. It was the raison d&#39;etre of Autocar Professional&#39;s &#39;Smart Manufacturing Conclave&#39; held in at the Hilton in Chennai on June 28.</strong></p>
<p>Coming exactly 10 days after the very successful <strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/bs-vi-india-auto-inc-makes-mission-possible-ahead-of-deadline-43338"><span style="color:#FF0000;">BS VI Conclave</span></a></strong> held in New Delhi, much was expected of the second Smart Manufacturing Conclave and it proved to be just as good, drawing a large number of representatives of leading OEMs and Tier I suppliers, all keen to stay abreast of the latest in the field of intelligent manufacturing in the dynamically changing automotive industry. The daylong conference comprised multiple sessions, each hosting industry and technology experts.</p>
<p>The domestic automotive sector is the bedrock of India&#39;s the overall manufacturing sector, contributing over 7 percent to the country&rsquo;s GPD, and employing over 3 million skilled personnel.&nbsp;&nbsp;While India Auto Inc&#39;s growth is vital and linked to the growth of the economy, rapidly changing dynamics of the auto sector have seen the fundamentals of the industry shifting rapidly, in the process changing the conventional ways of usual manufacturing.</p>
<p>Over the past three decades, the Indian automotive sector, comprising both OEMs and component suppliers, has evolved to become truly global in adopting most modern global particles. This is apparent in the increasing exports of vehicles and parts from India developed markets. BS VI compliance will give an additional boost to this effort. &nbsp;</p>
<p>As the industry tackles new megatrends of connectivity, autonomous, safety and electrification, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things and simulation are gradually becoming important tools of future growth.<br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/HS1_1466.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 502px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Dr Arvind Bharadwaj:&nbsp;&quot;These are difficult times for the mobility industry but being an optimist I would say this is a blip that we are going through.&quot;</em><br>
<br>
To take on these challenging times,<span style="color:#0000FF;">&nbsp;Dr Arvind Bharadwaj, Chief Technology Officer, Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</span>,&nbsp;who inaugurated the Conclave, touched upon&nbsp;key fundamental issues in his keynote address.&nbsp;&quot;These are difficult times for the mobility industry but being an optimist I would say this is a blip that we are going through. The&nbsp;turnaround is around the corner with growth back on track soon.&rdquo;</p>
<p>According to Dr Bharadwaj, there are some major disrupters&nbsp; to the automotive industry. &ldquo;The first is obviously the technological disruption with megatrends like connected, shared and autonomous mobility and electrification challenging incumbent vehicle makers and also likely to reshape the mobility sector over the next two decades.&nbsp;The second is the challenge with changing consumer preferences. The car no longer has as much of an emotional connect as it did in the past. While it remains an object of desire for a substantial chunk of customers, it is now becoming an object of utility. Lastly, government regulations and policies are significantly changing the way the product of the future will look like.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Session I: Make in India, For the world. The Next Phase.</span></strong><br>
The first speaker of the day,&nbsp;<strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Ravi Gogia, President, Fiat India Automobiles</span></strong>&nbsp;(FIA) spoke lucidly on the theme of &#39;Building India as a global manufacturing base beyond just for low-cost small cars&#39;. He elaborated upon FIA&rsquo;s exports, the company&#39;s manufacturing capabilities , the global quality in its made-in-India products, how they are integrated with smart manufacturing and the results the company has been able to achieve in India.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Ravi%20Gogia%2C%20President%2C%20Fiat%20India%20Automobile.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 491px;" title=""></p>
<p>Addressing the midsize car market across the globe, FIA established the Jeep brand in India and currently exports the made-in-India Jeep Compass to highly competitive markets such as Japan, the UK, Australia and 13 other different countries. Detailing the company&rsquo;s manufacturing excellence, Gogia said, &ldquo;The cars, engines, and powertrain that we manufacture in India are world-class, the processes are so grilled that the products go to the market are truly globally benchmarked.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Fiat India has introduced a new concept called &lsquo;workplace integration&rsquo; to integrate operators on the shopfloor, the supervisor providing inputs before any new vehicle starts rolling off the assembly line; measures aimed at improving productivity, process and product quality.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ford India is yet another global OEM whose Indian subsidiary is the largest exporter of cars from India. <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Kandasamy Subramanian, Director, Global Digital Manufacturing Engineering, Ford</span></strong>,&nbsp;spoke about automotive manufacturing in the digital age, manufacturing from India to the world, and driving key innovations from India to the world.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Kandasamy%20Subramanian%2C%20Director%2C%20Global%20Digital%20Manufacturing%20Engineering%2C%20Ford.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 490px;" title=""></p>
<p>Ford has two manufacturing plants in India and began exporting the made-in-Oragadam Ecosport SUV years ago to its home market, which is known to be one of the most stringent and demanding markets globally. &ldquo;As part of Make-In-India, we have invested Rs 1,300 crore in a modern facility which is coming up in Chennai. Known as the Global Technology and Business Centre, it has nearly 9,000 engineers working to provide different value-added services to all the Ford operations around the world,&rdquo; said Subramanian.</p>
<p>Making a presentation on &#39;Production mantra to achieve global production quality&#39; and bringing the two-wheeler OEM perspective,&nbsp;<strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Dr S Deverajan, Senior VP, Production Engineering, TVS Motor Company</span></strong>,&nbsp;said<strong>:</strong> &ldquo;Customer demands are fast changing and millennials are expecting everything that goes into a car be available in two-wheelers, posing a challenge for two-wheeler OEMs.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Dr_%20S%20Deverajan%2C%20Senior%20VP-%20Production%20Engineering%2C%20TVS%20Motors%20Company.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 490px;" title=""></p>
<p>So, what should an OEM do? &ldquo;There are a lot of opportunities for Indian manufacturing players to lead the world in modern manufacturing practices. In the PV space, India has already demonstrated real capabilities; similar opportunities are available to explore in two-wheelers and other sectors. We, at TVS Motor, are trying to implement them by adding value at every stage of the manufacturing process, in terms of design, redefining the process and product. We have tried this in our new NTorq scooter, providing similar features that go into a passenger car,&rdquo; explained Dr Deverajan.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Bala Pachyappa, CTO, EMF</span></strong>,&nbsp;who has been working in the electric mobility industry for over 13 years, had the audience all ears when he said, &quot;Today&#39;s manufacturing sector will be totally disrupted in the electromobility space. It&#39;s not just electric vehicles but the new-generation vehicles entering the market are now becoming digital vehicles, which are driven by a supercomputer with a lot of sensors, connectors and network devices which will be again connected to IoT.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Bala%20Pachyappa%2C%20CTO%2C%20EMF.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 737px;" title=""></p>
<p>Elaborating on factors driving this rapid change, Pachayappa said,&nbsp;&ldquo;The vehicle is moving from mechanical to electronics to digital. This will replace the bill of materials of a vehicle by 90 percent of an IC engine vehicle.&nbsp;Secondly, the vehicles of today are dominated by hardware; this see see a change to more software, which means with a vehicle getting regular software updates, current-day production and servicing methodologies will be transformed completely. Another big impact will be on materials. As most EVs will not use conventional metal because gram of weight in an EV is a load which needs to be reduced to give the range and reduce cost, lightweighting will see increased &nbsp;adoption and gradually material being used in vehicles today will continuously transform over a period of time.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Session II: Evolutions of Processes, Approaches in Manufacturing</span></strong><br>
Bringing in a OEM&#39;s perspective,<strong>&nbsp;<span style="color:#0000FF;">Shankar Venugopal, Vice-President, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</span></strong>,&nbsp;spoke on disruptive innovation with digital technologies.&nbsp;&nbsp;According to Venugopal, the industry has always overcome leaner and incremental changes for decades but the current ecosystems will change exponentially.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Shankar%20Venugopal%2C%20Vice%20President%2C%20Mahindra%20%26%20Mahindra.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 491px;" title=""></p>
<p>Technologies like mobile internet, energy storage and renewable, electric and autonomous vehicles, cloud computing, AI, cognitive technologies, advanced materials and manufacturing are growing rapidly in their performance and their cost is also falling. &ldquo;To take on this disruption, democratisation of technologies is a way forward by digitising to empower the people to solve the problem. If millions of people come together and join the ecosystem of innovation, technologically enabled growth happens.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Another speaker from the manufacturing sector who worked across various geographies, and experienced the change in technologies is&nbsp;<strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Harsha Kadam, President, Industrial Business, Schaeffler India</span></strong>&nbsp;who explained the impact of electric mobility in the entire ecosystem and India&rsquo;s opportunity in the emerging industry.</p>
<p>&quot;Why are EVs emerging so rapidly today in the automobile sector? There is increasing pollution and congestion in cities in every part of the world. Rising temperatures&nbsp; and global warming are putting pressure on today&rsquo;s IC engine-driven mobility, which contributes to current-day global conditions,&rdquo; said Kadam.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Harsha%20Kadam%2C%20President%2C%20Industrial%20Business%2C%20Schaeffler%20India.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 490px;" title=""></p>
<p>Eyeing an enormous addressable opportunity in e-mobility, Schaeffler in India has developed a transmission system for two-wheelers, one which has been designed and developed in-house by Indian engineers. This system addresses the challenge of providing torque at a gradient for a scooter. This transmission will shortly be coupled with BLDC motor to fit at the wheel of the vehicle, the prototypes are ready, and discussion is already underway with two leading OEMs.</p>
<p>Listing the complexity in developing products for EVs, Kadam said, &ldquo;The first challenge was acquiring the knowledge and capabilities, getting into series production is the next challenge. This is addressed by taking the help of digital technologies to put up a new kind of manufacturing process for these unconventional products. The third roadblock is the supply chain as the entire value chain which is getting challenged now. Furthermore, people within the organization need to be re-skilled massively. And, lastly the viability and question of return on investment is another key challenge to be addressed.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Dr T Sundararajan, Head, R&amp;D, Wheels India</span></strong>&nbsp;put the spotlight on the changing use of materials used in the automotive industry over the past seven decades, and how material deployment will see drastic change going ahead, impacting components and their integration into vehicles. &ldquo;The most important aspect is how these components impact material choice. Vehicle manufacturing technologies will see similar disruption,&rdquo; said Dr&nbsp;Sundararajan.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Dr_%20T%20Sundararajna%2C%20Head-%20R%26D%2C%20Wheels%20India.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 490px;" title=""></p>
<p>&ldquo;The auto sector has mainly been using steel or iron-based alloys, either mild steel or advanced tensile steel which accounts for more than 60 percent of the vehicle. Of late, there is a lot of buzz around the use of composites in vehicles as a new material with a forecast of 15-20 percent of composite usage but this has not become a reality as it is is still in a developmental stage. The reasons cited are many: manufacturing technologies of composites are not suitable for mass manufacturing, also in a cost-competitive market despite offering a lightweight advantage the cost is unaffordablem,&rdquo; said Dr Sundararajan.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Prabhu Patil, CEO, Prolim Global Corporation</span>,&nbsp;</strong>a Detroit-based IoT and PLM company&nbsp;which caters to nearly 500 automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing and devices clients worldwide, said the company has been extensively working with automotive OEMs, Tier 1 and 2 components suppliers, providing customised solutions to the manufacturing industry.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Prabhu%20Patil%2C%20CEO%2C%20Prolim%20Global%20Corporation.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 490px;" title=""></p>
<p>Patil spoke extensively about the growing importance of IoT in helping manufacturing companies, automotive OEMs and component makers in various areas including maintenance, capacity utilisation, sustainability and downtime. &ldquo;IoT is here and it is at an accelerative&nbsp;stage in the world today. But in the advent of electrification of mobility, the change will take place from mechanical to electro components. Mechanical products are getting smaller and smaller and lesser. Electronics and software are increasing whereas mechanical is reducing significantly,&rdquo; explained Patil.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/session.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 491px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>L-R: Ashwin Kumar, Associate Director, Mobility Practice, Frost &amp; Sullivan; Meenakshi Sundaram, Director - Commercial &amp; Technical, Gates Unitta India; Sivam Sabesan, MD, Charin India and Harish Vijayanand, General Manager, Project Management Office, Renault Nissan Automotive India.</em></p>
<p>In a special session, Ashwin Kumar, Associate Director, Mobility Practice, Frost &amp; Sullivan; Meenakshi Sundaram, Director - Commercial &amp; Technical, Gates Unitta India; Sivam Sabesan, MD, Charin India; and Harish Vijayanand, General Manager, Project Management Office, Renault Nissan Automotive India discussed various challenges and opportunities for manufacturers in a disruptive age.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Panel Discussion: Achieving global quality in India</span></strong><br>
Top-notch product quality is the goal for any manufacturer, be it in automotive or any other industry. Quality which stands out also stands a chance of it getting global recognition, which translates into profit-heavy exports. Although a number of Indian automakers and component suppliers are currently manufacturing products o a global standard, there is still some way to go before the bulk of Indian manufacturing is designated as top-quality or gold standard.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/P%20Kaniappan%2C%20MD%2C%20Wabco%20India%2C%20S%20Parthasarthy%2C%20CEO%2C%20Rane%20Madras%2C%20Sriram%20PS%2C%20VP-Operations%20%26%20Manufacturing%20Engineering%2C%20Daimler%20India%2C%20Murali%20Vaidyanathan%2C%20MD%2C%20Hanon%20Automotive%20Systems.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 426px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>L-R: Prabhu Patil, CEO, Prolim;&nbsp;Murali Vaidyanathan, MD, Hanon Automotive Systems;&nbsp;Sriram PS, VP-Operations &amp; Manufacturing Engineering, Daimler India CV;&nbsp;S Parthasarthy, CEO, Rane Madras;&nbsp;P&nbsp;Kaniappan, MD, Wabco India and Autocar Professional&#39;s Sumantra B Barooah, who moderated the session.&nbsp;&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>The panellists for this session comprised representatives of both local and MNCs, who debated on what India needs to do in the near future to emerge as a global base for critical manufacturing. The panelists comprised P Kaniappan, MD, Wabco India; S Parthasarthy, CEO, Rane Madras; Sriram PS, VP (Operations &amp; Manufacturing Engineering), Daimler India; Murali Vaidyanathan, MD, Hanon Automotive Systems India,&nbsp;and Prabhu Patil, CEO, Prolim Global Corporation. The panel discussion was moderated by <em>Autocar Professional</em>&rsquo;s executive editor, Sumantra B Barooah.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Setting the context of the panel discussion, <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">P Kaniappan, MD, Wabco India</span></strong> emphasised that &ldquo;Today, India&nbsp;certainly cannot be different than any country in the world&nbsp;as we have become part of the global network, and the supply chains are truly global. This, in a way, is an opportunity to position India as a factory of the future of the world and to achieve this goal, the fundamental requirement is to achieve the best qualities in the world.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I believe we are in a much better position to achieve that than any another country due to the concept of smart manufacturing which helps make the whole manufacturing setup intelligent to make build capabilities to manufacture parts with almost zero defects. In India, by virtue of our ability to develop a solution in a frugal manner, compared to other developed markets, we can achieve high cost benefits with superior quality. Also, fresh-out-of-college engineers in India are digitally savvy, we have the necessary skills available. All that we have to do is to provide a platform to these young engineers to apply their knowledge. We are in a position to create a manufacturing ecosystem which is much more cost effective and which can deliver zero PPP quality. Smart manufacturing makes this possible, something which wasn&rsquo;t available 30 years ago,&rdquo; said Kaniappan.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">S Parthasarathy, CEO, Rane Madras</span></strong>, the leading home-grown Tier I supplier, said, &quot;The Rane Group over the years has been able to achieve global quality levels which helped it win the Deming Prize and Deming Grand Prize, realising that without a journey of quality we as a company or group will not survive.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>He said, &ldquo;Achieving quality at the shopfloor is relatively easy but understanding customer needs is going to be one of the biggest challenges for all the local manufacturing companies. There are several stated expectations from the customers in specifications, but meeting the explicit and implicit unstated expectations of the customer is going to be a huge task for all the companies which have the ambition to become part of the global supply chain. To do this, we need a global mindset irrespective of which part of the world we are geographically present in. India has a great opportunity due to the ongoing (US) trade war with China to emerge as an alternative manufacturing supplier. If we use this small window of opportunity by getting our quality act together, we have huge scope. &rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Sriram PS, VP (Operations &amp; Manufacturing Engineering), Daimler India Commercial Vehicles,</span></strong>&nbsp;pointed out that quality is not an option but a necessity to survive in any industry today. He said&nbsp;quality today is the same irrespective of geographies and that is what the customer&rsquo;s expectations are because he is willing to pay the price of such quality. The same is applicable to component suppliers, who are now part of the global supply chain. Likewise, product and service quality is end-to-end and not restricted to products or services but everything a company does including parts, process, people and systems.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Indian components suppliers by virtue of supplying to companies globally have achieved highest quality with a big base of exports, but OEMs are still perceived as low-cost. Products coming from India don&#39;t command the same brand value as say Japan or Germany. This is a challenge for India to get better brand equity for the quality produces locally,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Murali Vaidyanathan, MD, Hanon Automotive Systems India</span>&nbsp;</strong>agreed with the panelists by saying that over the past two decades, product&nbsp;quality levels in India have improved by leaps and bounds but the expectations and awareness levels in the market far outpace the improvement the industry has shown. &ldquo;Today, there is no distinction between the quality expectation between a domestic and overseas player. India certainly has a long way to go, and we are poised to take advantage of prevailing conditions globally but this doesn&rsquo;t mean that all manufacturing orders will come to India. There are two reasons for this: firstly, we don&rsquo;t have a rich neighbour and getting an order from any part of the world, there is a significant cost of distance. This cost will have to be overcome only by the overarching reputation of quality. Secondly, we have a long way to go, and our Tier II, III and MSME suppliers have not been at speed with the requirements that the industry is expecting.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Prabhu Patil, CEO, Prolim Global Corporation</span></strong>&nbsp;said, &ldquo;System engineering, thinking and quality are essential while designing and developing products which must be simple, usable and with superior quality.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Citing some examples, Patil spoke about Firestone tyres and Takata airbags which had high-quality products but systems engineering and system quality problems often failed the products. Therefore, a component manufacturer, despite making a quality product, must be able to adapt to other sub-systems or products to make it successful and suitable in a vehicle by getting into systems-level thinking. &quot;As Industry 4.0 evolves, mechanical componentry is under threat from the growing interface of electronics and software all &#39;talking&#39; to each other. Yes, the complexity in vehicles is fast increasing as cars turn computers on wheels. But this advance also calls for a shift in thinking to deploying total systems engineering and adopting total quality systems,&quot; said Patil.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Autocar Professional </em>thanks Platinum Sponsor&nbsp;Hanon Systems India and Technology partner Prolim for making the Smart Manufacturing Conclave a success.</p>
<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;BS VI: <a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/bs-vi-india-auto-inc-makes-mission-possible-ahead-of-deadline-43338"><span style="color:#FF0000;">India Auto Inc makes mission possible ahead of deadline</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[Autocar Professional's second Smart Manufacturing Conclave, held in Chennai on June 28, saw incisive debate and discussion on how industry can optimise manufacturing operations, so critical in an era of disruption.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/8da2517e-4369-4374-8008-f62665bd78c3.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/8da2517e-4369-4374-8008-f62665bd78c3.JPG&h=485&w=73543420https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/industry-40-and-the-mantra-of-smart-manufacturing-43420
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/industry-40-and-the-mantra-of-smart-manufacturing-43420Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:45:00With PSA in India, suppliers have new global opportunity<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/00ee6d1c-9498-4359-97ec-92d7ee6608d2.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The PSA Group may be taking a well-calculated approach of scaling up its business in the Indian passenger vehicle market, but it&#39;s looking to go on the fast lane to ramp up sourcing of components from India. Last year, the French major sourced made-in-India components worth 250 million euros (Rs 1,911 crore). That figure is set to cross a billion euros maybe in the next 2-3 years.</strong></p>
<p>Michelle Wen, executive vice-president &ndash; global sourcing &amp; supplier quality, Groupe PSA, wants to achieve it &quot;as soon as possible&quot;. &quot;Indian suppliers have a lot of advantages as well as potential,&quot; she said.</p>
<p>That opportunity explains the presence of top executives from various Indian suppliers at the company&#39;s India Suppliers Summit, on April 3, which drew over 500 representatives, both Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers. It is learnt that around 150 suppliers in India have joined the PSA bandwagon.</p>
<p>For the Indian supplier fraternity, business from the PSA Group, which is implementing its &#39;Push to Pass&#39; strategy to increase its sales outside Europe by 50 percent, presents a truly huge opportunity.</p>
<p>Supplier selection and retention in the PSA Groupe global supplier base are guided by corporate and social responsibility. The selected suppliers will have access to all of PSA Group business opportunities worldwide, which totaled 42 billion euros (Rs 324,702 crore) in 2018.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/EMP2%20008.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>EMP2 platform combines PSA&#39;s best technological innovations&nbsp;to develop lighter, safer and cleaner cars and also affordability. &nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Export of made-in-India Citroens will play a big role for the PSA Group to achieve economies of scale to justify localisation of over 90 percent from the start of production. This will involve a very high 98 percent localisation for the vehicle and 90 percent for the C5 Aircross engine.</p>
<p>What will help the company achieve this high level of localisation is PSA&rsquo;s two JVs in Tamil Nadu with the CK Birla Group for vehicle assembly at Thiruvallur, and a powertrain plant in Hosur with AVTEC, which was inaugurated on November 22, 2018.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">PSA Group records fifth straight year of growth</span></strong><br>
The PSA Group will launch 116 new cars across its five brands &mdash; Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Vauxhall and Opel &mdash; by 2021, accelerate the electrification of its model range and launch Peugeot in the North American market as part of the second phase of its &lsquo;Push to Pass&rsquo; growth plan.</p>
<p>The strategic plan is designed to turn PSA into a &#39;global vehicle manufacturer&#39;. The company has completed the first phase by recording its fifth consecutive year of growth. Since the first plan was launched, PSA has acquired Vauxhall and Opel, which posted a profit in 2018 for the first time in 20 years.</p>
<p>The second phase of the plan runs from 2019 until 2021, and aims to grow the company&rsquo;s global presence with entry into several new markets including India, along with expanding its product range and a focus on electrification and digital technology.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Looking for quality, cost &amp; delivery as well as TCO</span></strong><br>
Michelle Wen, executive vice-president, Global Purchasing and Supplier Quality, Groupe PSA, said: &ldquo;In a context of fierce competition, purchasing has a key role to play in terms of performance for projects and serial life production phases. We are looking for &lsquo;QCD&rsquo; (Quality, Cost &amp; Delivery) performance, not only the lowest cost per part, but also TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). The Monosokuri work ethic, gathering engineering, manufacturing and purchasing will make the difference towards competitors, and our sourcing with Indian suppliers will lead to newer verticals and opportunities to meet customer needs and respond to the technological shift. This Summit also focuses on developing and integrating a broad network of Indian suppliers through encouraging collaborative product development, orchestrating and connecting information across the supply chain, and understanding an ecosystem of suppliers and partners within it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Ethical, environmental and social criteria are crucial for selection of a new supplier and are regularly assessed by a third party. This assessment covers the environment, labour practices, fair business practices, and sustainable procurement. The information is used for risk identification and for selection of sites to be audited. Each supplier assessed receives a scorecard covering all relevant aspects of the evaluation.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first published in the April 15, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[Over 500 automotive component suppliers thronged the PSA Supplier Summit in Chennai. They stand a chance to supply in India and globally if they clear stringent quality and performance criteria.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Passenger Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/00ee6d1c-9498-4359-97ec-92d7ee6608d2.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/00ee6d1c-9498-4359-97ec-92d7ee6608d2.JPG&h=485&w=73543355https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/with-psa-in-india--suppliers-have-new-global-opportunity-43355
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/with-psa-in-india--suppliers-have-new-global-opportunity-43355Sun, 23 Jun 2019 06:00:00Citroen plots a scalable growth strategy for India<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/31f8ab4b-1386-40ff-9056-5e2f5c06ecd9.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>In its third attempt at the Indian passenger vehicle market, French major PSA Group is to focus on profitability in India and aims to achieve a high level of localisation through transmission and engine manufacturing with its two joint ventures with the CK Birla Group. A &#39;disruptive&#39; approach in sales and aftersales is also on the cards.</strong></p>
<p>A little over a month after the PSA Group confirmed that its Citroen brand would be its vehicle of re-entry into the India market, the top management of the French carmaker descended in Chennai and took the covers off the C5 Aircross SUV on April 2. The C5 Aircross, which is based on Groupe PSA&rsquo;s EMP2 platform, will be the company&rsquo;s first launch in India as a BS VI-compliant product and will go on sale before the end of 2020, with annual production capacity of 100,000 units from the Thiruvallur plant in Tamil Nadu in Phase 1.</p>
<p>Present at the press conference for the announcement were Carlos Tavares, chairman, Groupe PSA, accompanied by Linda Jackson, CEO, Citroen Brand, and Emmanuel Delay, executive vice-president and head of India-Pacific, Groupe PSA.</p>
<p>Speaking at the media meet, PSA Group chairman Carlos Tavares said that the Group&rsquo;s overall strategy is to become more global and increase sales outside Europe by over 50 percent by 2021. This involves launching the Peugeot brand in North America, Opel in Russia and Citroen in India. Exports of made-in-India Citroens will play a big role for the PSA Group to achieve economies of scale to justify localisation of over 90 percent from the start of production. This will involve a very high 98 percent localisation for the vehicle and 90 percent for the C5 Aircross engine.</p>
<p>&nbsp;<img alt="Citroen C5 Aircross" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/CL%2018_024_011.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Citroen C5 Aircross"></p>
<p><em>Flagship C5 Aircross will introduce the qualities Citroen represents &mdash; style and comfort &mdash; to Indian buyers.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>What will help the company achieve this high level of localisation is PSA&rsquo;s two joint ventures in Tamil Nadu with the CK Birla Group for vehicle assembly at Thiruvallur, and a powertrain plant with AVTEC, which was inaugurated on November 22, 2018. The initial manufacturing capacity of this state-of-the-art plant will be about 300,000 transmissions per annum and 200,000 units of BS VI-compliant engines. The plant will manufacture gearboxes in Phase I to support both the India project as well as supplying Groupe PSA.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Looking to replicate European brand positioning success</span></strong><br>
Citroen will roll out its &lsquo;Inspired by You&rsquo; brand positioning in India, using the same approach that has brought it success &mdash; over five years of consecutive growth and increased market share &mdash; in Europe:</p>
<p>- A strong and differentiated product offering, bearing a unique design and benchmark comfort, which creates value for customers to stand out in an already highly competitive automobile market.</p>
<p>- An unrivalled customer experience in the automotive industry (dealer network and approach to marketing, services, digital).</p>
<p>- Price positioning at the core of the Indian market, using a strategy with a high level of local integration (over 90 percent) based on the two JV agreements between Groupe PSA and the companies of the CK Birla Group (car assembly and distribution, and production of powertrains).</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Glo-cal approach</span></strong><br>
Citroen will manufacture a range of new models with an international scope, for the first time in India, the first of which will be launched by the end of 2021.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/CL%2018_024_019%20copy.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>The SUV will set the tone for the brand&#39;s India journey, with India-specific products set to follow from 2021 onwards.</em></p>
<p>Fully in line with the framework of the Groupe PSA Core Model Strategy, these new models will follow its principles, in particular with one model launch per year.</p>
<p>Called &lsquo;C Cubed&rsquo;, the programme is in line with Citroën&rsquo;s positioning, with three Cs for:</p>
<p><strong>Cool:</strong> refers to the design of the models, bearing Citroen&rsquo;s unique character.</p>
<p><strong>Comfort:</strong> a feature of the Citroën experience via well-being on board and ease-of-use for all occupants.</p>
<p><strong>Clever:</strong> with reference to the intelligent design and the high level of local integration in order to perfectly meet the core market needs.</p>
<p>After India, other global markets will get these new international models. Before their launch, the brand will begin its offensive in India from 2020, by introducing its flagship, the new C5 Aircross SUV.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Focus on profitability</span></strong><br>
This time around, PSA, which has had a not-so-good experience in its India ventures in the past, is focusing on building the business profitably. By manufacturing both the engine and transmission locally for its India models, Citroen will aim to get a sizeable cost advantage over other global carmakers in the country.</p>
<p>The French carmaker doesn&#39;t have a &#39;first-mover advantage&#39; to enhance its chance to succeed in India but it is betting on the &quot;advantage of studying our competitors and the reasons for the failures&quot; in India. &quot;Huge investments, unrealistic volumes&quot; are some of the reasons.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/REA_265519_189.jpg&h=485&w=735" title=""></p>
<p><em>By 2025, all Citroen models globally will&nbsp;have either a plug-in-hybrid or an electric version.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>As part of its India market strategy, PSA has made a business case to be profitable with just a 2 percent share of the passenger vehicle market. According to Emmanuel Delay, executive vice-president and head of India-Pacific, Groupe PSA, &ldquo;Our ambition is to achieve a 2 percent market share within 4-5 years. Our business case is in line with expectations, not dependent on a massive expectation like 5 percent&quot;.</p>
<p>Carlos Tavares pointed out that &ldquo;focus on profitability is a huge strength for the PSA Group, which has a special skill in &lsquo;doing more with less.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
<p>Emmanuel Delay commented, &quot;India is a tough market where nothing is certain but also nothing is impossible. We want to build a full ecosystem to be &#39;Indian in India&#39; and leverage India as a cost-efficient market.&quot;</p>
<p>Citroen global CEO Linda Jackson said, &ldquo;Citroen has a &lsquo;modern disruptive approach&rsquo; which will help us stand out in India. Design and comfort will be the two factors that will differentiate and define the Citroen brand in India.&rdquo;</p>
<p>She added, &ldquo;Launching a brand in a large market such as India is a unique and enthralling experience. With its boldness and its capacity to be inspired by the ways of its customers, I am convinced that Citroën has all of the assets to attract the Indian customer base. We are giving ourselves the tools to do so, with the ambition of being &lsquo;Indian in India&rsquo;, on both the industrial front with the two local joint ventures, and with the new product offering, which we are introducing in the country, building on the formulas that have brought us success in Europe.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">India, a market with immense growth potential</span></strong><br>
With 1.3 billion inhabitants, India is the second most populated country in the world. It is also the youngest country in the world, with a median age of 25 years old. By 2025, 55 percent of the country&rsquo;s population will be of working age, which equates to 25 percent of the active global population. With levels of growth among the strongest at present, India may well become the leading global economy within a few years (it was fifth in 2018).</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/DSC2978%20%281%29.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Carlos Tavares: &quot;Focus on profitability is a huge strength for the PSA Group, which has a special skill in &lsquo;doing more with less.&#39;&quot;</em><br>
For the PSA Group, in terms of the automobile industry and numbers, India represents excellent potential. With a current ownership rate of only 40 cars per 1,000 inhabitants and a middle class that should grow by 75 percent by 2025 (going from 63 to 110 million), the average growth of the passenger vehicle market in the years to come is estimated at 8 percent per year (going from 3.3 million units in 2018 to over 6 million by 2025). Therefore, from 2020, India should be the third largest global automobile market behind China and the United States.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">India&rsquo;s SUV market to turn even more exciting</span></strong><br>
PSA and Citroen are looking to make the most of the global consumer demand for SUVs, which is why the C5 Aircross is its first weapon of assault. This SUV debuted in April 2017 in Shanghai, and subsequently went on sale in many European markets. The C5 Aircross is based on Groupe PSA&rsquo;s EMP2 platform that also forms the basis for the DS 7 Crossback, the Peugeot 3008 and the Vauxhall Grandland X.</p>
<p>The Citroen C5 Aircross is 4,500mm long, 1,840mm wide, 1,670mm tall and has a 2,730mm wheelbase, which makes it 25mm longer and 10mm taller than Hyundai Tucson, with a wheelbase that is 60mm longer. It sits rather high up too, with 230mm of ground clearance.</p>
<p>A funky, modern looking two-tone dashboard is the centre-piece of the C5 Aircross&rsquo;s cabin, replete with split air-con vents that look unique. It&rsquo;s loaded with features, too, with the SUV including multiple airbags, blind spot assist, smart headlights with an auto high beam feature, attention assist, cross-traffic detection and hill-hold assist, among others. The interiors also feature an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, automatic climate control, steering-mounted buttons and an all-digital instrument cluster.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/174.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p>All Groupe PSA models &mdash; including the Citroen C5 Aircross &mdash; will be manufactured at the CK Birla Group plant in Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu which also manufactures SUVs for Mitsubishi in India. Citroen is also set to offer a plug-in hybrid variant of every new model based on PSA&rsquo;s EMP2 platform and also an all-electric variant of all new cars based on the CMP architecture.</p>
<p>Expect Citroen C5 Aircross prices in line with like-sized rivals. PSA boss Carlos Tavares has already confirmed that Citroen will start operations in India with above 90 percent localisation, and this should reflect in competitive pricing for the C5 Aircross.</p>
<p>The Indian passenger vehicle market has just seen the entry of yet another challenger brand. Kia Motors and MG Motor India will roll out their first products for the domestic market later this year. Stay tuned for more action as India&#39;s passenger vehicle market turns even more exciting.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first published in the April 15, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[PSA Group takes a scalable manufacturing approach and a disruptive approach in sales and aftersales.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Passenger Vehicleshttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/31f8ab4b-1386-40ff-9056-5e2f5c06ecd9.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/31f8ab4b-1386-40ff-9056-5e2f5c06ecd9.JPG&h=485&w=73543353https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/citroen-plots-a-scalable-growth-strategy-for-india-43353
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/citroen-plots-a-scalable-growth-strategy-for-india-43353Sat, 22 Jun 2019 06:10:00How software can keep manpower ticking smoothly<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/eb13d46a-4d68-4d96-8704-52ffe3934dda.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The ancient Chinese saying, &ldquo;Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,&rdquo; stands true for a developing country like India. Fast forward to 2019 and it means providing sustainable jobs for people. In India&rsquo;s industrial sector, where workforce management is still being conducted in a traditional manner, the jobs on offer to employees and salaried staff depend on managers and their level of fairness.</strong></p>
<p>While this scenario by no means has any benchmark standard that can rule out unfair tactics among workforce management, how can manufacturing companies ensure fairness and proper scheduling of its workers? That&rsquo;s just what American multinational workforce management software and services company Kronos aims to resolve. The company offers a suite of automated, intelligent, and innovative human capital or workforce management solutions which, it says, assist organisations in handling the employee scheduling, time and attendance, absence management, labour activities, labour compliances and analytics that gives insights on labour patterns, trends&nbsp;and outliers.</p>
<p>The company also offers a Workforce Dimension (WFD) which was recently launched that&nbsp;offers a breakthrough employee experience and unprecedented levels of operational insight into managing your workforce. Kronos WFD functions on a three-vector approach: &lsquo;Work your Way, Work Smarter and Work in a Modern Cloud&rsquo;, made possible through industry-first technologies and smart cloud computing. This product enables the workforce to function from remote areas with in-memory cloud computing, thereby empowering the employer with access to relevant data, on the go. WFD aggregates within its ambit - Timekeeping, Scheduling, Absence Management, Analytics, Data Collection and successfully manage workforce compliance.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Alliance_43355_global_en.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Renault-Nissan Automotive India uses Kronos&#39; automated workforce management solution.</em></p>
<p>Speaking to Autocar Professional, James Thomas, country manager, Kronos, says that in a typical manufacturing company around eight to 12 percent of expenses are related to operations; this cost usually does not include payroll expenses. He adds that the ratio keeps varying and can also be in the range of 30 to 70 percent, which is a huge expense; if not managed properly, it can lead to financial challenges for an organisation.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Solutions for the automotive industry</span></strong><br>
With increased competition in domestic as well as global markets, manufacturing companies are aggressively looking to reduce costs. As a lid cannot be kept on variable expenses like raw material cost, overhead costs or capital costs, it is imperative companies start improving their efficiencies while also controlling costs. Kronos says that in the automotive industry &mdash; from parts suppliers to original equipment manufacturers &mdash; are increasingly recognising the value of effective workforce management, as labour is one of their largest controllable expenses as well as a competitive differentiator.</p>
<p>The workforce management company says for collecting and tracking employee time and attendance data, paper timesheets do not cut the mustard anymore. Using home-grown systems is not only expensive to maintain, but also exposes firms to compliance risk. For this, Kronos says its solution automates the processes for capturing employee time transactions and calculating pay. This helps put an end to buddy-punching, time theft and pay premium stacking that can send labour costs soaring. Its solution also gives supervisors detailed visibility into labour costs and unscheduled overtime so they can better control labour budgets. Using decision-support tools, supervisors can create schedules that optimise the use of available labour resources and minimise reliance on last-minute, unplanned overtime.</p>
<p>Citing an example, Thomas says after deploying the company&rsquo;s solution at a customer facility, they found that the firm was bearing a huge expense towards overtime pay despite no work overload. Kronos was able to track a trend wherein a large number of labourers were staying back each day, adding to unnecessary overtime cost. With the solution from Kronos, the OEM was able to improve worker shift management which helped the company reduce expenses.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/MF_autofactory_10356411.jpg&h=485&w=735" title=""></p>
<p>Such measures have helped Kronos customers across the world achieve substantial savings. For instance, it helped saved around $1.3 million (Rs 10 crore) over a 12-month period for Mitsubishi Motors of North America. And in terms of ROI (Return on Investment), Volkswagen FAW was able to realise 100 percent ROI in a matter of just 12-months.</p>
<p>Renault-Nissan Automotive India is a Kronos client. &ldquo;We were keen on a completely automated workforce management solution to manage our rapidly growing workforce, and yet maintain our high levels of efficiency and productivity. We evaluated multiple solutions and chose Kronos as its solution could accommodate all of our requirements. In addition, Kronos has an established presence in large manufacturing organisations in India, and offers best practices for global automotive companies,&rdquo; said Ramuni Nair, head of Human Resources, RNAIPL.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Reducing downsizing</span></strong><br>
Sharing his views on the steps taken by the organisation to cut down expenses, Thomas says, &ldquo;People being taken out or employees being replaced is a common thing, because that is seen to be the easiest cost that you can cut when a downturn happens.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The reality to an effective people management skill is to have real-time control and understanding on shift to shift; week to week; month to month and quarter to quarter. It is easy to reduce the workforce but when the growth returns and you need to recruit again it is not as easy as letting them go. The replacement cost is not just recruitment, it includes the training costs; the skill that they have (existing employee) training on the important things. You have to understand the existing workforce that is being replaced has been a worker or an employee for you for X number of years, the attrition is going up even in these places,&rdquo; explains Thomas.</p>
<p>Thomas believes an effective transparent solution that helps an organisation have complete automated fair control on the manner the workforce is deployed, works or get paid leave without any favouritism can not only help the company reduce cost, but also have a consistent performing workforce. When it comes to India, with its abundant workforce and an aim to become the next manufacturing hub for the globe, an effective workforce management solution could just be the ideal solution to help existing and new organisations to access a cost-effective and quality workforce, which will also be learning new skills in an era of disruption.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first published in the June 1, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[Kronos, the American workforce management company, is targeting India Auto Inc through its software solutions that can enable automakers to have an efficient workforce, reduce overhead costs and also avoid people downsizing.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/eb13d46a-4d68-4d96-8704-52ffe3934dda.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/eb13d46a-4d68-4d96-8704-52ffe3934dda.jpg&h=485&w=73543351https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/how-software-can-keep-manpower-ticking-smoothly-43351
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/how-software-can-keep-manpower-ticking-smoothly-43351Sat, 22 Jun 2019 06:05:00Henkel and RLE bond to enhance vehicle safety<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/839ca17d-8ebb-41eb-9fc7-83db9c219b6b.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Henkel, whose high-performance adhesives and sealants allow OEMs to seamlessly combine load-bearing structural elements together, and RLE, one of the world&rsquo;s leading development, technology and consultation service providers, have joined hands to make vehicles safer.</strong></p>
<p>The automotive industry the world over is fully engaged in tackling the four disruptive megatrends of autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility. What remains a constant though is its engagement with safety and sustainability.</p>
<p>Safety has tremendously evolved in the automotive context, wherein not just physics or mechanics but even concepts of chemistry today have started playing key roles in defining the structural and operational integrity of a vehicle. For instance, do you know that a car windshield re-fixed in hardly 30 minutes, can provide enough bonding with the metal to be able to survive a crash test conducted immediately afterwards?</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/DSC_4766.JPG&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Henkel&#39;s Teroson WT R2000 Aqua is a water-based coating product used for long-term underbody and spot repair tasks.</em>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Vehicle engineers are now ingraining such characteristics into their designs and are venturing into the depths of material science, aiming to find better solutions to some of the critical problems being faced by the industry.</p>
<p>While stringent emission control norms demand high fuel efficiency which can be achieved by shedding weight, a consistent push on road safety also at the same time needs products to be durable and strong to remain intact and structurally composed in the event of an accident.</p>
<p>The aforementioned windshield experiment was successfully performed by Henkel, the 20 billion euro German chemical and consumer goods giant, which sees over 22 percent of its global business coming in from supplies of adhesives and substrates to the automotive industry. It has now partnered RLE International, the Cologne-based engineering excellence and solutions provider, to take this paradigm shift head-on and be collective enablers of swift progress to the automotive fraternity globally.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/2018-06-14-live-car-crash-test-pb0a5647_High.jpg&h=485&w=735" title=""></p>
<p><em>In a test in Germany last year, Henkel demonstrated the power and efficiency of its car repair solutions just 30 minutes after bonding the windscreen with Teroson PU 8730 HMLC. CTS experts simulated the frontal offset collision in line with EU new vehicle standards. The results showed that the windscreen bonded with Teroson adhesives not only withstood the extreme crash test conditions but also delivered the measured values required for the full functioning of the passenger airbag.</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Leveraging strengths to enhance safety</span></strong><br>
Touted as &lsquo;The Mobility Alliance&rsquo;, the global partnership signed in November 2018, aims to leverage each other&rsquo;s strengths in material science and engineering. It will jointly develop new solutions and technologies at platform level to enable weight reduction and safety enhancement in contemporary automotive products, be it electric vehicles, hybrids or just conventionally fueled vehicles needing to meet stricter emission norms by the virtue of lightweighting.</p>
<p>Henkel, with its over 50-year-old and renowned Loctite brand of sealants, epoxies and superglues, has its R&amp;D centres strategically located in multiple global locations with specialised task forces conducting continuous research in material technology. Henkel operates in India through Henkel India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Henkel and as Henkel Anand, its JV with the highly diversified Anand Group. Headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Henkel in India has a footprint comprising eight manufacturing sites, an innovation centre in Pune and a product development centre in Gurgaon.</p>
<p>RLE&rsquo;s global network encompasses six other centres other than its Cologne HQ and has been catering to global OEMs like Ford and Mercedes-Benz in core design and engineering services since 1985.</p>
<p>While it has bases in the UK, USA, Iberia, China and Australia, in India RLE is located in Bangalore since 2003, catering to the local arms of Ford and Mercedes in India, various domestic suppliers and OEMs in the country as well as RLE Group customers worldwide.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/car_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Battery crash protection can be optimised by using hybrid structural parts based on a combination of fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) and specially developed high-performance structural foam.</em></p>
<p>The latest global collaboration has led the two companies open up a new Alliance Centre in Pune, which is currently home to 25 engineers and domain experts working on creating new composites and metal technologies targeted at solving new problems arising out of automakers&rsquo; structural lightweighting and safety enhancement requirements in an environment where going electric, maximising range and saving lives of passengers as well as pedestrians are the new focus areas of vehicle development. From an India perspective, crash testing is headed to be a very big area, where companies are looking towards achieving the best possible crash rating which in turn helps sell a safer vehicle better and the Henkel-RLE alliance is looking to actively assist its clientele in their endeavour to develop safer vehicles.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Thinking safety from the design stage itself</span></strong><br>
According to Shilip Kumar, country president, Henkel Adhesive Technologies India, &ldquo;While we at Henkel have been a key player in offering process chemicals such as surface treatment chemicals, underbody coatings, seam sealers and adhesives for generic purpose on the automotive assembly line, we are now looking at getting involved into the design of an automobile and products that are specific to a model from a safety perspective. So, the next progressive step will be not just supplying the product but taking part in the design process itself, which is where this partnership comes alive to offer a very interesting proposition &mdash; the best of both worlds: engineering technology and material science. If used at the right stage of the design, these can add much more value to the manufacturability of the design.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Being German companies, Henkel and RLE share a strong relationship. We felt this could be something which could add tremendous value to the automotive industry, especially when it is undergoing a disruptive mode,&rdquo; added Kumar.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/Henkel%20RLE%20.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>L-R: Dr Vijay Machigad, MD, RLE India; Shilip Kumar, country president and Pradeep Kumar Verma, RM (Acoustics &amp; Structural) - India, Middle East and Africa, Henkel Adhesive Technologies.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>According to Dr Vijay Machigad, managing director, RLE India, &ldquo;The new trends are creating conflicting design imperatives, especially when we look at moving from petrol to electrics where there is a huge thrust on weight reduction to increase the travel range. At the same time, the vehicle has to be safe to ensure battery and occupant safety. So, there has always been a trade-off between safety and lightweighting, which has led to increased usage of metals such as aluminium, also leading to other innovative materials coming into the picture.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Present-day volumes per model for each carmaker have reduced from a million units earlier to a few hundred thousand. Hence, one cannot invest in tooling and fixtures as the investment per piece or per car comes out to be very heavy. So, companies are looking at technologies wherein there is no need for a lot of welding and can reduce manufacturing times by combining components together.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;With Henkel and RLE coming together, we are essentially tapping into the huge potential to increase the (vehicle) stiffness without adding too many components or conventional strengthening mechanisms such as welds and stiffness ribs,&rdquo; added Kumar.</p>
<p>The Alliance Centre is creating multiple proofs of concepts. While India will still take time to adopt these innovations which are better suited to EVs, slow proliferation in lightweighting and safety projects has begun, with India issuing tough targets of achieving high fuel efficiency (with CAFE norms) and also mandating crash homologation requirements for all passenger vehicles that are sold from October 2019 onwards.</p>
<p><em>(This article was first published in the April 15, 2019 issue of Autocar Professional)</em></p>
<![CDATA[Henkel and RLE's mobility alliance will leverage each other's strengths in material science and engineering.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/839ca17d-8ebb-41eb-9fc7-83db9c219b6b.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/839ca17d-8ebb-41eb-9fc7-83db9c219b6b.jpg&h=485&w=73543350https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/henkel-and-rle-bond-to-enhance-vehicle-safety-43350
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/henkel-and-rle-bond-to-enhance-vehicle-safety-43350Sat, 22 Jun 2019 06:00:00BS VI: India Auto Inc makes mission possible ahead of deadline<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/02a15372-9a11-40d7-9947-7af468b0b270.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>As the monsoon gradually spreads across India, washing away the grime and dirt collected over many months, there&rsquo;s a new crispness in the air, the skies are blue and the plants and trees look greener too. Something similar and more is expected from Bharat Stage VI emission norms, which kick in from April 1, 2020. But after spending crores of rupees and putting its shoulder to the BS VI engineering wheel, will the Indian auto industry and the country really benefit from clear skies and improved quality air? What will it take for the motoring industry to be cleaner and greener?</strong></p>
<p>To discuss and debate this critical issue and more, the who&rsquo;s who of India Auto Inc, industry stakeholders and government representatives met at <em>Autocar Professional</em>&rsquo;s BS VI Conclave, held at The Grand, in New Delhi, on June 18. The day-long Conclave, spread across seven incisive sessions, proved to be a humdinger of an event, with the audience all ears to what a galaxy of eminent speakers comprising captains of industry and experts had to say .&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>India, which is home to 14 of the world&rsquo;s top 20 most polluted cities that include its capital New Delhi, has been searching for solutions to improve its air quality quotient and the government viewed&nbsp;the automotive industry, with its tailpipe emissions, as among the prime contributors to air pollution. This even as road and construction dust continues to be the largest contributor to Particulate Matter (PM) emissions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/india-leapfrog-bs-implement-bs-vi-emission-norms-april-2020-10064"><span style="color:#FF0000;">The missive to BS VI had come cloaked in a tweet from transport minister Nitin Gadkari on January 6, 2016</span></a> , taking India Auto Inc &ndash; vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers and the entire supply chain &ndash; by huge surprise because it meant leapfrogging BS V and that too in a scant three-and-a-half years, something even advanced auto markets with Euro 6 had never attempted. Since then, BS VI has been the buzz word in the industry, inside boardrooms and on the shopfloor, with engineers and technocrats and politicians too.</p>
<p>Sumantra B Barooah, executive editor, <em>Autocar Professional</em>, opened the day&rsquo;s proceedings by lauding the Indian automotive industry for taking up the BS VI challenge in its entirety, what with both vehicle manufacturers and the component industry refusing to buckle down to the enormity of the task at hand and instead carving a new benchmark.</p>
<p>Hormazd Sorabjee, editor, <em>Autocar India</em>, in his welcome address, said: &ldquo;BS VI is easily the biggest technological leap India has taken. This is clearly a very disruptive time for the Indian automotive industry but the innate sense of frugality has come to the fore.&rdquo; Pointing out that electric mobility in India still has its challenges, particularly on the battery front, he said it&rsquo;s still early days for EVs and &ldquo;the IC engine still has legs.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">Maruti Suzuki CEO calls for fast-tracking scrappage policy</span></strong><br>
Delivering the keynote address, <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Kenichi Ayukawa, MD and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India </span></strong>confirmed that all Maruti Suzuki models will be BS VI-compliant ahead of the April 2020 deadline. He, however, urged the government to fast-track a scrappage policy because BS VI-driven clean air gains will be offset by the large number of unfit, unsafe vehicles that continue to ply on Indian roads.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20Sesion%201%20-%20Ayukawa%20DSC_8685.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 555px;" title="">Ayukawa said: &ldquo;We are witnessing one of the biggest technological disruptions of the decade for the automobile industry &ndash; the transition from BS IV to BS VI. This leapfrogging from BS IV to BS VI is also one of the biggest, boldest and fastest moves for any nation. Worldwide, the transition has been in phases first from Euro 4 to Euro 5, and subsequently to Euro 6. In Japan too, we followed a step-by-step approach for such technology changes.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are on schedule to meet the tight timeline. We have augmented our capacities and trained our people to meet this tight timeline. I would like to thank all stakeholders like the government and our suppliers who made it possible for us to meet the timelines.&rdquo;</p>
<p>He called for speedy availability of BS VI fuel, saying &ldquo;The real impact of BS VI, will come only if BS VI fuel is available across India.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Importantly, he urged the fast-tracking of a vehicle scrappage policy, which can get vehicles which do not comply with current emission and safety standards, off the roads. &ldquo;Sadly, we offset all that we gain with BS VI with older vehicles plying on the roads. Old vehicles including buses, trucks, cars, two wheelers and three-wheelers need to be systematically taken off the road. A proper time-bound scrappage policy is long due from the government. We request fast tracking of a&nbsp; scrappage policy to achieve full benefits of BS VI adoption.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The Maruti Suzuki boss also advocated a reduction in GST (at present 28%) to help bring buyers back into showrooms and give a fillip to sales.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20Session%201%20HF%20-%20DSC_8698.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 491px;" title=""></p>
<p>That point was highlighted by the next speaker &ndash; <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Henriette Faegermann, First Counseller &amp; Head of Section, Delegation of the EU in India</span></strong>. She said between the year 2000 and 2016, emissions of NH3 decreased by 9 percent and SO2 by 76 percent. &ldquo;Europe has been working on emission legislation since 1970. Dieselgate forced us to look at the situation again. Ever since, there has been progress from Euro 1 to Euro 6 for light duty vehicles and Euro 1 to Euro 4 for heavy duty vehicles. We have done a lot but there&rsquo;s more to be done.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The EU kicked off RDE in 2011 and the first on-road test procedures under RDE 1 and 2 were developed in 2016 for light vehicles. 2018 saw progression to stricter RDE 4 and very soon all types of vehicles will need to undergo the RDE test.</p>
<p>Among the measures taken by the EU to reduce pollution include promoting the use of renewable energy, reducing use of coal, fostering low emission mobility, promoting best available technologies, setting standards to improve fuel quality and encouraging sustainable mobility options. On the fiscal front, it means taxing air pollution and aligning fuel taxation while urban solutions include investing in cleaner mobility and public transport.&nbsp; She cited the example of UVAR or Urban Vehicle Access Restrictions. The EU&rsquo;s measure of low emission zones or other types of UVARs limit access for polluting cars. Thus far focussed on PM10 emission, they have been successful.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Faegermann also said that several cities in the EU have achieved NOx emission reductions with new electric buses or retrofitted buses. By adding special filters, there are simple, cost-effective solutions that can be replicated globally.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20-%20Session%201%20PB%20DSC_8721.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 575px;" title=""></p>
<p>The BS VI Conclave saw strong governmental representation in the form of <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Priyank Bharti, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport &amp; Highways (MoRTH)</span></strong>, who was the guest of honour. Lauding the domestic auto industry for its progress on the BS VI front, he said: &ldquo;We are catching up with the developed countries on the emission front and we appreciate the effort of India Auto Inc. The government is keen to help industry. BS VI has a definitive timeframe and will go down as one of the big achievements of the Indian auto industry.</p>
<p>Interestingly, Bharti revealed that the vehicle scrappage policy is in its final stages, news which should gladden OEMs and environmentalists alike as it will accelerate demand and also reduce polluting emissions from unfit vehicles.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">Converting a challenge into an opportunity</span></strong><br>
<strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Dr Pawan Goenka, managing director of&nbsp;Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</span></strong>, who has been spearheading&nbsp;the BS VI compliance programme at the UV maker, joined the&nbsp;Conclave via video conferencing from MRV, Chennai.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra%C2%A0bs-vi-drive-to-start-with-petrol-in-q2--hopes-for-timely-diesel-availability-43186"><span style="color:#FF0000;">The BS VI challenge has turned into an opportunity</span></a>, he pointed out.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20Session%20-%20PG%20DSC_8729.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 392px;" title=""></p>
<p>The achievement is also a reflection of Indian ingenuity. M&amp;M says 95 percent of the BS VI development work has been done in-house. Localisation level is as high as 99 percent. The figure stands at 80 percent if the sourcing by M&amp;M&#39;s component vendors is also included. A total of 125 vendors and 32 technology providers are part of the BS VI programme. MRV, Mahindra&rsquo;s R&amp;D hub in Chennai, has filed 30 patents in the quest for BS VI-ready engines. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Dr Goenka said, &ldquo;The past three-and-a-half years have been the most challenging for the auto industry to meet BS VI norms. The Narendra Modi government, in its first four years, took many important decisions and BS VI is among them. Though the industry was up in arms against the decision, transport minister Nitin Gadkari stuck to his guns. In fact, he had more confidence in the Indian auto industry than the industry itself! Mahindra &amp; Mahindra is BS VI-ready. We had to work on 16 engines and 21 vehicles across segments (private and commercial) and we will launch our BS VI-compliant petrol engine before the end of Q2 FY2020.All technological challenges have been negated and we not compromised on NVH, fuel efficiency or performance.&rdquo;</p>
<p>He added, &ldquo;The local content in our BS VI engines is 95 percent and 2,000 of the 2025 BS VI-relevant components have been developed in-house. We have invested more than Rs 130 crore in our facilities and have managed to achieve BS VI upgradation in just 50 percent of the costs that we had estimated would be incurred in 2016.&rdquo;</p>
<p>In the run-up to the implementation of BS VI from April 2020, Dr Goenka said he foresees&nbsp;four challenges:<br>
- Availability of BS VI fuel. Although the government has confirmed the same by April 2020, OEMs will need it by January 2020 because they need to start selling BS VI vehicles.<br>
- Supply of BS VI components will be a challenge for component makers because they will have to stop making BS IV parts and develop new production lines.<br>
- Inventory levels will also be an issue because&nbsp;OEMs cannot afford to have any BS IV vehicles unsold.<br>
- The unavoidable cost increase in petrol and diesel engines, some of which will have to be passed on to the consumer.</p>
<p>Thanking the domestic component supplier industry, he said the industry&rsquo;s never-say-die approach and frugal approach has helped achieve the BS VI target. He also lauded the government of India, saying: &ldquo;I thank the government for pushing the industry to achieve the impossible &ndash; but don&rsquo;t make it a habit!&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20Session%202%20DSC_8733_1.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 393px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>L-R: Vinay Harne, president,&nbsp;NPD, TVS Motor Co; Martin Schwenk, MD &amp; CEO, Mercedes-Benz India; Hormazd Sorabjee (who moderated the session); CV Raman, senior executive director (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki India; and Venkatram Mamillapalle, MD, Renault India.&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">SESSION 2: BS VI &amp; BEYOND</span></strong><br>
With the stage set for a day full of incisive debate on the all-encompassing subject of BS VI, who better than <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Martin Schwenk, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India</span></strong>, to open the second session? As is known, the German carmaker introduced the S350 D as India&rsquo;s first BS VI-certified vehicle in January 2018, a good two years ahead of the government&rsquo;s deadline. Not only was this sedan India&rsquo;s first &lsquo;Made-in-India, for-India&rsquo; BS VI car, but it was also the first BS VI car to run on BS IV fuel.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20-%20Session%202%20Merc%20DSC_8738.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 451px;" title=""></p>
<p>Elaborating on how diesel-engined vehicles turn cleaner under BS VI, Schwenk said: &ldquo;The regulatory threshold for Particulate Matter in BS VI diesel vehicles is 82 percent lower than that of BS IV diesel vehicles. There is also a drastic 68 percent reduction in the NOx emissions level with the introduction of BS VI diesel vehicles. I can clearly say that we welcome and support the government&rsquo;s commitment to clean air.</p>
<p>Offering an insight into how the luxury carmaker reduced NOx and PM in its cars, he compared the BS IV model against the BS VI E-Class 220 diesel (launched in May 2019). Test results reveal that the new E-Class has achieved a drastic reduction in NOx level, by 81 percent! What&rsquo;s more, the PM level could even be reduced to zero compared to the outgoing BS IV car, pointed out Schwenk.</p>
<p>In his detailed graphical presentation, the Mercedes-Benz India boss elaborated that the company&rsquo;s BS VI diesel variants have lower CO<sub>2</sub> value than petrol. On the other hand, PM emission levels for both petrol and diesel are equal at zero<strong>.</strong> &ldquo;In India, we face the biggest pollution challenge because of high particulate matter or PM. Whilst BS VI will bring a substantial improvement on PM and NOx, we at Mercedes-Benz believe that the diesel engine has a significant additional advantage: it offers reduced CO2 emissions and hence a superior fuel efficiency.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The company, which has already launched the made-in-India C-, E, S- and V-class, the Mercedes Maybach S650, new AMG G63 and new AMG C43 coupe in BS VI diesel and petrol variants, will power its entire fleet with BS VI-compliant engines before April, 2020.</p>
<p>Schwenk revealed how Mercedes-Benz managed the breakthrough innovation of running a BS VI vehicle on BS IV fuel. &ldquo;There are two key pillars to the success, namely, an improved engine combustion process and a modern exhaust treatment system. The engine combustion process introduces a new stepped-bowl piston design, two-stage turbocharging and the use of a dynamic multi-way exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR). But the most important pillar is the modern exhaust treatment system, which is designed so robustly that it can run on BS IV fuel (upto 50 ppm sulphur). The excess sulphur in BS IV fuel can harm low tech exhaust treatment systems, and cause so called sulphur poisoning. Use of superior quality material such as copper zeolite or palladium coating in the catalyst helps in overcoming this problem. The exhaust treatment system in our vehicles not only uses this technology, it also contains a new generation DPF, SCR and an AdBlue dosing unit. For the first time in India, we have been using SCR technology, where AdBlue, a water-based urea solution, is injected into the exhaust flow. This releases ammonia, and converts nitrogen oxides into harmless nitrogen and water. These technical measures lead to reduction of the emissions significantly so we can meet the BS VI regulations comfortably.</p>
<p>He added, &ldquo;According to Mercedes-Benz India, there should be a co-existence of all the technologies for future mobility. The Internal Combustion Engine, Plug-In Hybrid and Electric Vehicles should all exist together. We suggest a staggered approach &ndash; further improving internal combustion engines and in parallel, step by step, introduce PHEVs and EVs. We believe that the introduction and harmonization of innovative technologies from around the world will benefit India in order to look beyond BS6. This can be done by collaborating on technical standards, and with the help of a suitable trade policy. Harmonization and standardisation will help in achieving economies of scale, attain highest level of efficiency and customer centric pricing. Additionally, this will also be opening up export opportunities for Indian players like us.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Schwenk closed his presentation with three key pointers. He suggest the cleaner BS VI vehicles be identified separately with the use of different colored stickers. Today, all diesel vehicles are identified with an orange sticker and petrol vehicles by a light blue sticker. BS VI vehicle could have a separate color coded sticker. He also mooted introducing emission-related checks over the lifecycle of vehicles. And lastly, creation of a strategic corridor for emission targets from mid to long term, independent of technologies. Achievers within these targets could be incentivised based on their emission levels.</p>
<p>The two-wheeler industry, which sold all of 21 million units in FY2019, will likely be the most impacted by BS VI given that vehicle prices will rise on every product. <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Vinay Harne, president, New Product Development, TVS Motor Co</span></strong>, said pricing of BS VI vehicles will be the biggest challenge for two-wheeler OEMs. Given that all products, right from the high-selling 100cc commuters to 125cc and 150cc motorcycles and scooters, will have to shift to fuel injection technology, there will be a hike in the final sticker tag. &ldquo;A lot of work is underway to reduce costs at the source but we will have to pass on some cost to the consumer. The industry has faced significant cost increases after the CBS/ABS mandate. As customers are not likely to pay significantly higher amounts only because of the tech upgrade to BS VI, we will have to ensure the BS VI vehicles deliver higher fuel efficiency with the same performance, if not better, than before.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Harne also pointed out that in the run up to BS VI implementation, inventory management will be a critical issue both for OEMs and dealers. Also, there will be a need for dissemination of BS VI-specific information and education. &ldquo;Many two-wheeler garages across the country will not have the capability to handle the complex electronics of a fuel-injected engine.&rdquo; And he signed off with a cautionary advice for industry: &ldquo;Work on meeting upcoming CAFÉ norms (which kick in from 2023) will have to start now.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Customer education was a theme that <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Venkatram Mamillapalle, MD, Renault India</span></strong>, also advocates. &ldquo;After OEMs are ready with BS VI technology, customer education is going to be the most crucial aspect, particularly in rural India,&rdquo; he said, revealing that the Renault Duster SUV is a strong seller in town and country. What would come as good news for Renault vehicle buyers, he added: &ldquo;We have no intent of passing on the entire cost (of the BS VI upgrade) to the customer. Even though it will have a serious impact on us, we are taking measures to cut costs internally.&rdquo;</p>
<p>What has helped Renault India is the technological connect with its parent company. &ldquo;Engineering costs, compared to other OEMs, are lesser for us,&rdquo; said Mamillapalle.</p>
<p>The audience was also eager to what <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">C V Raman, senior executive director (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki India</span></strong>, had to say. &ldquo;BS VI will continue to be a challenge until we are through with all our products. The challenge for Maruti Suzuki involves moving 16 brands and 51 applications to BS VI. We have been working extensively on safety and emission-related issues since the past two years. We had to introduce new platforms, new engine and also rationalise manpower. We have conducted extensive vehicle testing and we are also working to ensure our dealers are not saddled with BS IV stock. Automakers are always running on the technology treadmill &ndash; if it is BS VI in 2020, then there&rsquo;s CAFÉ and RDE coming up in the future.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">SESSION III: ROLE OF THE OIL &amp; LUBE INDUSTRY IN THE BS VI ERA</span></strong><br>
Oils and lubricants are the smooth operators in a vehicle and their role in enabling OEM compliance to BS VI norms cannot be understated. Delving deep into the subject, <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Purshottam Panda, executive director (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki India</span></strong>, spoke about both the opportunities and challenges arising out of BS VI.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20-%20Session%202%20P%20PandaDSC_8796.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 491px;" title=""></p>
<p>He cited an IIT Kanpur study of air pollution in New Delhi, where vehicle emissions account for an average of 20 percent of the PM 2.5 comprising trucks (9.2%), two-wheelers (6.6%), four-wheelers (2%), buses (1%), LCVs (0.8%) and three-wheelers (0.4%). He said BS VI is more than just reduction in Nitrous Oxides (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM) because it calls for emission system durability (80,000km to 160,000km); more stringent OBD requirement, and RDE monitoring.</p>
<p>Detailing the major changes for meeting BS VI, Panda said the effort calls for making the combustion process more efficient, neutralizing the pollutants generated, and software calibration.</p>
<p>The leapfrogging of technology to BS VI required restrategising and essentially made up for five challenges:<br>
- Availability of BS VI fuel<br>
-&nbsp;Short timeframe to develop BS VI<br>
-&nbsp;Complex development process<br>
-&nbsp;Resource-intensive and high cost<br>
-&nbsp;Simultaneous development for more challenging CAFÉ-II and RDE</p>
<p>He said better fuel management can make BS VI implementation more efficient. However, he said BS VI ideally requires RON 95 grade fuel whereas India gets RON 91, which translates into a 3 percent impact on fuel efficiency. Maruti Suzuki&rsquo;s BS VI drive involved 16 models, over 50 applications, 250-plus homologation test and nearly 60 lakh kilometres of fleet validation.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20-%20Session%202%20DR%20YP%20rao%20DSC_8820.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 491px;" title=""></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Dr Y P Rao, Chief Technology Officer, Gulf Oil International Group</span></strong> (pictured above), made a presentation on the theme of &lsquo;Is the lubricant industry ready for BS VI?&rsquo; covering challenges in migration from BS IV to BS VI, impact of new regulations on lubricants, effect of operating conditions on lubricants and the opportunity to move to higher value lubricants.</p>
<p>According to Dr Rao, the Indian operating cycles in CVs puts more strain on the lubricant. Engine oil is subjected to more stress in Indian trucks and hence validation in local operating conditions extremely important. OEMs are &nbsp;keen to extend oil drain-intervals. The on-ground report is that engine oil drain interval has seen a substantial jump in the past: a 5-time jump in the past 15 years and 10 times in the past 30 years. Little wonder fleet operators want a reduction in TCO and OEMs are keen to move to longer drain intervals.</p>
<p>He said there is a mix of truck types and engine platforms &ndash; Indian, European and North American &ndash; being used in India. Given the severe duty cycles and operating conditions in India, none of the normal SAPS engine oils used in BS IV CVs are suitable for BS VI CVs. Dr Rao said that BS VI CVs need controlled SAPS engine oils but need to be optimised for local geographical and operating conditions.EWhat proved helpful was Gulf Oil&rsquo;s European experience with Euro 6 engine oils. BS VI PVs and two- and three-wheelers require SAPS-optimised engine oils.</p>
<p>How can BS VI challenges provide opportunities to enhance value of a lubricant? Dr Rao said Gulf Oil, which has been the trendsetter in India since 2006 in developing and marketing long-drain lubricants for CVs and motorcycles, is a strong position to design bespoke engine oils for BS VI vehicles. What is fuelling this confidence is the company&rsquo;s extensive field validation database in India with various global and local OEMs, as well as the benefit of European experience on engine oils for Euro 6 vehicles.</p>
<p>Gulf Oil is ready with customised lubricant and fluid solutions for all aggregates of BS VI vehicles in various SAE grades (including FE grades). The company has established the backward compatibility of BS VI engine oils in BS IV CVs and says there is potential for extension of current drain intervals. It has also upgraded PV and two-wheeler engine oils with optimised SAPS that meet latest OEM needs.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/web%20session%202%20Dr%20NK%20Bansal%20DSC_8786.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 491px;" title=""></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Dr Navin Kumar Bansal, director, Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry</span></strong>, said India&#39;s primary energy demand outlook will see a shift to renewable resources. While coal will come down from 58 percent today to 48 percent in 2040, renewables including bio-fuels will grow from 3 percent to 16 percent.</p>
<p>The oil industry has spent Rs 90,000 crore to improve the quality of fuel and oil. Waste biomass is going to be the source for bio-fuels such as bio-methane and bio-CNG. On the other hand, production of bio-diesel is not picking up pace of production in the country, which could be used for blending purposes to curtail emissions. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The oil industry is also ready to supply BS VI fuel in batches for R&amp;D and testing purposes and is ready to discuss the logistical challenges. &nbsp;Indian refineries are spending Rs 32,000 crore on various operations to develop BS VI quality fuel. He confirmed that on April 1, 2020, the nozzle tip fuel quality at fuel pumps across the country will be BS VI.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">SESSION IV: TESTING &amp; VALIDATION</span>&nbsp;</strong><br>
<img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20Session%20IV%20-%20DSC_8850.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 420px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Session IV: &lsquo;Testing &amp; Validation&rsquo;. L-R: Naresh Phansalkar, Director Technical APAC, Tenneco Automotive; Hormazd Sorabjee; Dinesh Tyagi, Director, iCAT; and Ashvin Thondavadi, Engineering Head, EGT, Sensors &amp; Starting Devices, Bosch India. </em></p>
<p>If Indian OEMs have to successfully meet BS VI norms, testing and validation is of the utmost importance. Speaking at the Conclave, <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Dinesh Tyagi, director of iCAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT)</span></strong>, Manesar, said that iCAT has invested close to Rs 200 crore in its facilities to help industry achieve BS VI compliance. The Manesar facility houses 19 engine test beds including eddy current labs. have increased the number of portable emission measuring systems from two to four, in order to test for RDE regulations.</p>
<p>Tyagi said, &ldquo;Anticipating demand for our services, in early 2016 itself, we upgraded our equipoment and services to meet OEM BS VI needs. We have nearly doubled our manpower in engine and vehicle test beds and have acquired two additional PEMS (Portable&nbsp;Emission&nbsp;Measurement Systems) to make a total of four units.&rdquo; &nbsp;</p>
<p>He added that with RDE coming into force from 2023, the next big job for the RDE committee is to establish the emission level. Tyagi had a cautionary note on the staffing front: &ldquo;Getting the requisite trained manpower is a big challenge right now. In fact, industry is poaching our testing and calibration engineers.&rdquo;</p>
<p>iCAT is also ready for EV testing, said Tyagi. &ldquo;Electrification is on the anvil and we are investing close to Rs 45 crore to increase our EV testing infrastructure. This upgradation will be completed by October this year.&rdquo;</p>
<p>According to<strong><span style="color:#0000FF;"> Ashvin Thondavadi, engineering head, EGT, Sensors and Starting Devices, Bosch India</span></strong>, the<strong> </strong>regenerative efficiency of DPF would have been less than 60 percent with existing technology abroad as India has low average speeds which don&rsquo;t ignite the particulate trapped, thus clogging the filter frequently. After the 2016 BS VI announcement, Bosch decided to adapt DPF to the Indian Driving Cycle.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are logging a tremendous amount of data from each test vehicle in the range of 10-13TB. This will help in doing final optimisation or calibrations before the actual homologation.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Having a glocal approach will help in the Indian marketplace, said <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Naresh Phansalkar, director technical &ndash; APAC, Tenneco Automotive</span></strong>. &ldquo;We realised it is not useful to get imported solutions. We will use our European solutions and tweak them.&rdquo;</p>
<div>
<p>Phansalkar revealed that the company has leveraged its<strong> </strong>learnings from the China market due to a lot of commonalities between the two countries. &ldquo;Urea has high content of calcium and chlorine and this was never captured in European applications and thus, we had to take care of such parameters in design of the exhaust can system. High ambient temperature was another area which was specific to the Indian environment.&rdquo;</p>
</div>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">SESSION V: TRANSITION FROM BS IV TO BS VI</span></strong><br>
This session was all about powertrains and the upgrade to BS VI, an exchange of views between true-blue engineers, who have put their shoulder to the wheel of innovation to come up with solutions for cleaner and greener motoring.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Web%20Session%205%20DSC_8896.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 369px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>Session V: Transition from BS IV to BS VI. L-R: TVS Motor&rsquo;s Vinay Harne; Ashok Leyland&rsquo;s Krishnan Sadgopan; Tata Cummins&rsquo; Ashwath Ram; Hormazd Sorabjee; Tata Motors&rsquo; Rajendra Petkar; KK Gandhi and Hanon Climate System India&rsquo;s Kunal Ahuja. </em></p>
<p>Tata Motors, the CV market leader and driving a growth path in PVs, has been a forerunner in the BS VI programme in India. <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Rajendra Petkar, chief technology officer, Tata Motors</span></strong>, said: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t question the wisdom of the government. <strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/tata-motors-rajendra-petkar-we-decided-to-take-the-bs-vi-bull-by-the-horns-in-2016-itself-43358"><span style="color:#FF0000;">We took the (BS VI) bull by the horns in 2016 itself</span></a></strong>. Small CVs are unique to India and there is no global solution to rely on or to adopt. Hence, companies had to look at new technologies and tailor-make solutions to meet BS VI norms. From BS IV to BS VI, on an average, there is three times more effort involved at the developmental level, including that at the testbed validation stage.</p>
<p>He said that with Tata Motors having a multi-fuel vehicle portfolio &ndash; diesel, petrol and CNG &ndash; the company had to take decisive action to make the entire fleet switch to BS VI in the stipulated time.&nbsp;&ldquo;We had to take a lot of hard calls in order to rationalise the portfolio and strike a balance between diesel and gasoline in lieu of cost increment. Tata Motors held over 100 workshops with consultants and suppliers in 2016 to arrive at a BS VI roadmap.&rdquo;</p>
<p>There were a number of challenges to overcome. For instance, preparing the service network to handle new technology or improvement in prototype building capability &ndash; &ldquo;We have built thousands of prototypes and planned our capacities well in advance. Now the development and certification activity is currently in progress.&rdquo;</p>
<p>He had some cautionary advice too: &ldquo;The job is not done and we will need to worry about a few things including urea infrastructure as there is going to be a three- to five-fold increase in urea consumption. BS VI fuel availability will also be crucial thing to streamline BS VI introduction in the market. This is something we are strictly monitoring and we need to flush out BS IV fuel completely out of the system for BS VI vehicles to roll out smoothly. We cannot be sitting on huge inventory &ndash; BS IV or BS VI. It&rsquo;s a dynamic situation that we are grappling with.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Like Tata Motors, Chennai-based CV manufacturer Ashok Leyland has also made gains in BS VI. Speaking on behalf of the company, <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Krishnan Sadgopan, senior vice-president, Ashok Leyland</span></strong>, said: &ldquo;We saw BS VI as a big opportunity. Our group companies like Albonair Engineering and Gulf Oil helped us in this drive, with the focus on aftertreatment. In fact, we want to start a separate BS VI assembly line for a minimum quantity right now.&rdquo;</p>
<p>While complimenting the Tier 1 suppliers in the country, he called upon the industry to transfer skills to Tier 2 and 3 players. He said Ashok Leyland is doing its bit to educate people about BS VI. &ldquo;We have 120,000 workshops in our &lsquo;Service Mandi&rsquo; and we are digitally educating them.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Aswath Ram, MD, Tata Cummins and vice-president of the Engine Business , Cummins India</span></strong>, said the company is a forerunner in the field. &ldquo;Cummins launched the Euro 6 equivalent engines as early as 2007. Innovation lies in adapting technology for different markets. We have over 450,000 SCR tech BS IV engine running in India. And, for the BS VI programme, we have clocked 58 million kilometres with 200 SCR-equipped &nbsp;vehicles.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Ram highlighted that BS VI gives India a global opportunity &ndash; it can export its vehicles to all developed markets. &ldquo;With BS IV products, we could not cater to key markets. Now with BS VI, India is no longer a laggard but a leader.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">TVS Motor Co&rsquo;s Vinay Harne</span></strong> said in a bid to make the service personnel future-ready, the two-wheeler manufacturer has undertaken training activities at over 2,000 garages / workshops and that too in multiple languages. While certification and calibration is being done with BS VI fuel, endurance testing is being conducted with BS IV fuel.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">KK Gandhi, convener, Centre for Auto Policy &amp; Resarch; and executive advisor to TVS Motor Co</span></strong>, said: &ldquo;Technology has never been a challenge for the industry. However, looking at the overall market situation, the CV sector will have a big challenge on its hands as it will have to phase out models. The auto industry has been submitting vehicle scrappage proposals since a very long time essentially to limit the age of commercial vehicles but in vain.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Kunal Ahuja, deputy MD, Hanon Climate Systems India,</span></strong> said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to be a financial return straightaway but BS VI transition is a gift from the industry to the society which will start seeing immediate benefits. How we can retrofit or re-use the older vehicles to run efficient systems needs more research and development in the present day. We need to think from both the supplier and consumer point of view.&rdquo;</p>
<p>We had to take a lot of hard calls in order to rationalise the portfolio and so as to take a right call between diesel and gasoline in lieu of cost increment. Tata Motors held over 100 workshops with consultants and suppliers in 2016 to arrive at a BS VI roadmap.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">SESSION VI: ASSESSING THE COST &amp; MARKET IMPACT</span></strong><br>
Along with the technological demands of BS VI, what&#39;s keeping OEMs worried is the increased cost per vehicle and whether the typically price-sensitive consumer in India is going to accept it. Like all the sessions at the BS VI Conclave, the panelists for this session were a good fit. Sudipto Basu, executive director of the Emissions Control Manufacturers Association (ECMA); Ravi Chawla, managing director of Gulf Oil India; John Paul, immediate past president, FADA, and Rakesh Sidana, national head - Sales, MG Motor India.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Session%206.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 453px;" title=""></p>
<p><em>L-R: John Paul,&nbsp;immediate past president, FADA;&nbsp;Sudipto Basu, executive director, ECMA; Hormazd Sorabjee, editor, Autocar India; Arun Malhotra (who moderated the panel discussion);&nbsp;Ravi Chawla, MD, Gulf Oil India, and&nbsp;Rakesh Sidana, national head - Sales, MG Motor India.</em></p>
<p>The panel discussion was moderated by <strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Arun Malhotra</span></strong>, former MD of Nissan India. Known for his fondness for cricket and with the ICC World Cricket Championship underway, Malhotra in his inimitable style opened the debate with, &quot;India had to leapfrog from BS IV to BS VI. Chauke ke baad, chakka hee ata hai! (after a four, there can only be a sixer).&quot;</p>
<p>Automobile dealers are the eyes and ears of OEMs and<strong><span style="color:#0000FF;"> John Paul, immediate past president, FADA</span></strong> and the hugely successful proprietor of Popular Automobiles, which is one of India&#39;s largest dealerships, opened up the debate with a call for reducing GST to revive sales. As is known, auto sales across segments have hit new lows in the past couple of months and it looks to be a long haul before double-digit growth can be seen to be sustainable. Paul cited high insurance premiums and flagging consumer sentiment as reasons for the slowdown but ironically he said purchase enquiries continue to be high. Paul said even three straight months of a sales decline can impact dealers adversely, which is why FADA is telling OEMs to cut inventory levels as much as possible.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Sudipto Basu, executive director of ECMA</span></strong>, said that with the imperative shift to fuel injection, two-wheelers are set to become dearer by Rs 7,000 to Rs 17,000, which could have an impact on the commuter segment. He emphasised the need to handhold Tier 2 and 3 suppliers because at present their preparedness for BS VI is very weak. &quot;While the Tier 1 suppliers are offering full support to OEMs, I do not see the involvement of small players in the BS VI upgrade,&quot; he said.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#00923E;">SESSION VII: BS VI IMPACT ON CLEAN AIR</span></strong><br>
The final panel discussion, moderated by Hormazd Sorabjee, had Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director - Research &amp; Advisory, Centre for Science and Environment; Ashim Sharma, partner and Group Head, Business Performance Improvement (Auto, Engineering &amp; Logistics), Nomura Research Institute; and Jagdish Khattar, the former MD of Maruti Suzuki India as panellists.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/Session%207.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 437px;" title=""></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Anumita Roychowdhury</span></strong>, who is known for her strident views on vehicular pollution, seemed to be pleased with the country&#39;s fix on BS VI. &quot;These are very exciting times because the leapfrogging of emission norms means all new BS VI vehicles will be cleaner. We are happy because there will be a narrowing of petrol and diesel emissions, the focus will then shift to RDE and, importantly, the two-wheeler segment, which constitutes the largest vehicle parc, will benefit from technological advances,&quot; she said.</p>
<p>She added that understanding the government&#39;s post-2020 agenda is vital. Dieselgate has showed that Euro 6 is not enough and now Europe has further tightened emission standards. She had a pertinent query too: &quot;How are we going to prevent cheating in terms of devices?&quot;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Nomura Research Institute&#39;s Ashim Sharma</span></strong> made an expansive presentation on how industry can tap the opportunities arising from BS VI and also overcome challenges. With BS VI, he said the Indian auto industry and its regulatory framework is coming at par with global standards. Detailing the industry&#39;s technology readiness, he said India Auto Inc will incur Rs 100,000 crore in investments to implement a set of measures to meet BS VI norms.</p>
<p>Putting a finger on the increased costs of BS VI vehicles, he remarked that changes in exhaust aftertreatment systems are likely to increase prices of petrol cars by Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 while diesel cars will become dearer by Rs 65,000 to Rs 90,000. The biggest increase though will be in commercial vehicles which will see a hike between Rs 175,000 to Rs 225,000. And, two-wheelers, the most affordable form of motorised mobility, will see their sticker price increase by Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,000.</p>
<p>Sharma made a very pertinent point that BS VI will only serve to reduce the contribution of transport to the overall pollution levels. Road and construction dust is the largest contributor to PM emissions and unless these issues are addressed, an increase in their volume of pollution will only serve to negate the advances made by BS VI. In an effort to accelerate emission reduction, he called for introduction of the much-awaited vehicle scrappage policy and stringent implementation of pollution checks.</p>
<p>BS VI can also bring in the bucks for OEMs because with standards getting harmonised and maturing technology, automakers and suppliers have the opportunity to increase their export business substantially in a level-playing field.</p>
<p>Concurrently with BS VI, to meet the newly introduced CAFE targets, OEMs will need to find efficient and clean powertrain options. In Phase 1 (2017-2022), CAFE norms require average corporate CO2 emissions to be less than 130 gm/km by 2022. In Phase II (2022 onwards), this stands reduced to less than 113 gm/km and could be further tightened to 108 or 104 gm/km.</p>
<p>According to Sharma, if OEMs are to achieve a smooth transition to new emission and safety standards, they will need to necessarily adopt cost management strategies.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Jagdish Khattar</span></strong>, who is renowned for his energised stint at the helm of affairs at Maruti Suzuki India not very long ago, said that a vehicle scrappage policy is the immediate priority because there are far too many unfit and polluting vehicles still on Indian roads.</p>
<p>All in all, the day-long BS VI Conclave proved to be a truly engaging event, a top-notch quality dialogue between nearly 30 industry experts on a varied range of topics designed to make motoring greener and cleaner.</p>
<p><em>Autocar Professional</em> thanks all the panellists, presenting partner Gulf Oil, platinum partner Hanon Systems, associate partner&nbsp;Automotive Test Systems, and partners ECMA, Nomura Research Institute, iCAT and <em>Autocar India</em> for making the BS VI Conclave a very successful event. &nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Interview:</span><span style="color:#FF0000;"> </span><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/tata-motors-rajendra-petkar-we-decided-to-take-the-bs-vi-bull-by-the-horns-in-2016-itself-43358"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Tata Motors&#39; Rajendra Petkar | &quot;We took the BS VI bull by the horns in 2016 itself.&quot;</span></a></strong></p>
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<![CDATA[Nearly 30 industry experts, comprising captains of industry from OEMs and suppliers, discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities of the emission upgrade at Autocar Professional’s BS VI Conclave in New Delhi on June 18.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/02a15372-9a11-40d7-9947-7af468b0b270.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/02a15372-9a11-40d7-9947-7af468b0b270.jpg&h=485&w=73543338https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/bs-vi-india-auto-inc-makes-mission-possible-ahead-of-deadline-43338
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/bs-vi-india-auto-inc-makes-mission-possible-ahead-of-deadline-43338Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:56:00Tech talk: How touch screens bring the future at our fingertips<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5c17cef5-482c-425a-b1fe-c2ce6d7763ea.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Screens evolved in cars as a means of simplifying the way in which drivers could interact with increasingly complicated, button-cluttered dashboards &ndash; but, in the end, may have turned out to be a massive own goal.</strong></p>
<p>With the introduction of touchscreens, the problem has got worse, not better, because drivers have no chance of knowing what they&rsquo;re prodding, swiping or sliding without actually looking at it.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The answer may lie in haptic screens, which give a physical, tactile response you can feel when using a soft (virtual) button or slider. That staccato bumping when ABS is activated is probably one of the earliest forms of haptic response in-car controls and, more recently, vibrating steering wheels as part of lane departure or blindspot warning driver assistance systems. However, both are fairly crude examples of what is now becoming a precise science.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Haptic screens have actuators embedded in them containing crystals that expand when connected to an electric current due to the &lsquo;piezo&rsquo; effect. The current is triggered by the capacitive screen when a soft button or rocker switch is pressed and the actuator expands so you feel a click through the screen. It&rsquo;s also possible to define a ridge separating one button from another using the same concept. A driver can feel the control has been activated, making it much easier to resist taking eyes off the road for a sneak peak, during which time the car could have travelled 40 metres at motorway speeds.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Hyundai has recently been showing off research it&rsquo;s been doing since 2015, trying new ideas out on customers using driving simulators and test vehicles fitted with prototype centre screens and instrument binnacles. Haptic screen replacements are also being developed for steering wheel switchgear after early research revealed that customers didn&rsquo;t actually know what some steering wheel buttons were for.</p>
<p>Research engineers found introducing audio and haptic feedback together made a big difference following a trial in a driving simulator where customers tried haptic buttons in 10 typical real-world situations. You can also choose which configuration of buttons or functions you prefer on the button pads, something that can&rsquo;t be done with hard buttons.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The latest haptic screen technology makes it possible to identify which button is which before it&rsquo;s pressed, without even touching the screen. Called ultrahaptics, the tech was originally conceived by students at the University of Bristol and lends its name to a company that is developing it commercially in conjunction with Harman and others. Using ultrasound, an ultrahaptic screen makes it possible to &lsquo;feel&rsquo; an on-screen switch or button through a sensation in the fingertip while it is still in mid-air.</p>
<p>Beyond screens, ultrahaptics can also be used to give haptic feedback to gesture controls and make it possible to feel 3D holographic images in the same way. For manufacturers struggling to simplify the growing levels of gadget clutter drivers are dealing with, the solution could literally be at their fingertips.</p>
<p><strong>Predicting the future</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" height="596" src="https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/body-image/public/sidey.jpg?itok=WNFwBm9D" width="900"></p>
<p>Jaguar Land Rover has experimented with an infotainment screen that tracks the position of the hand using cameras and predicts which button is about to be pressed. In conjunction with ultrahaptics to produce a tap or a tingling sensation in a fingertip hovering over the screen, trials showed a 22 percent increase in the speed of selecting the right button.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/under-skin-how-haptics-are-making-touchscreens-safer"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Source</span></a></em></p>
<![CDATA[Fast-developing technology will make button-less interfaces safer to use by providing physical feedback]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5c17cef5-482c-425a-b1fe-c2ce6d7763ea.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/5c17cef5-482c-425a-b1fe-c2ce6d7763ea.jpg&h=485&w=73543304https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-touch-screens-bring-the-future-at-our-fingertips-43304
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/tech-talk-how-touch-screens-bring-the-future-at-our-fingertips-43304Mon, 17 Jun 2019 09:50:00